Westfield Merry Hill is one of the UK’s most successful shopping and leisure destinations. The 148,000 sq m shopping centre has more than 250 stores, over 8,000 car parking spaces and receives over 23 million visitors each year. The 220 acre mixed use site also includes The Waterfront complex, which is adjacent to the main shopping centre and offers corporate office accommodation. It also has a busy night time economy, comprising bars and restaurants situated around a marina area.
Andrew Black, Managing Director of PSC UK commented that: “We are delighted to have retained this important contract and are continuing to work with Westfield on a global basis, helping to protect important high value assets. This will herald the start of a major expansion plan and we expect to be announcing further significant contracts over the coming months.”
PSC was awarded this contract as it had demonstrated a track record of success at Merry Hill over the last two years and understood the requirements for security services, especially in the current economic climate. In addition to having one of the most stable workforces in the security industry, other important factors included the fact that PSC takes a pro-active approach to combating retail crime in partnership with every section of the community including local authorities, emergency services, schools and community groups. This includes active participation in community safety forums that work to reduce anti-social behaviour and vandalism, as well as Crime Partnerships and initiatives such as PubWatch schemes which aim to achieve a safer social drinking environment in all licensed premises.
Another key factor was the investment that PSC makes in providing ongoing personal training and development programmes for every employee that exceed the standards required by the SIA. The company has achieved Edexcel accreditation and provides a range of courses including legal guidelines, communication skills, emergency response and first aid. The latest additions include special events management, a door supervisor course and a range of NVQ courses conducted in conjunction with Swindon College.
According to Dean Jenkins, Westfield’s Head of Security at Merry Hill: “PSC has demonstrated a strong understanding of how to meet the security needs of large scale retail operations. We particularly appreciate the pro-active, ‘hands-on’ approach taken by the company to rapidly resolve any issues as they happen and have high levels of confidence in PSC’s ability to meet our ongoing security requirements over the next two years.”
PSC makes innovative use of technology to enhance the level of security provided throughout the Merry Hill operation. In addition to headcams and the latest patrol management systems, the company uses Case Global, a web-based emergency software tool that standardises response and reporting procedures across the organisation. It assists with the pro-active monitoring and evaluation of safety, security and risk management initiatives on a daily basis as well as providing a visual identification of incident spread and the location of ‘hot spots’. This enables potential problem areas to be analysed enabling security operations to predict where future incidents may occur, enabling appropriate interventions to be prepared.
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Professional Security Consultants is one of the UK’s fastest growing suppliers of security services and was founded by industry experts with a background in the military, enforcement agencies and the security industry. It provides a comprehensive range of commercial, retail, government, manned guarding, event management and consultancy services to clients operating around the world. For further information, please visit.www.pscsite.co.uk
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