In the bustling space of NEC Birmingham, I visited a huge, interconnected event. The Workplace Event, The Security Event, the National Cyber Security Show, the Fire Safety Event, and the Health & Safety Event were sprawled over the exhibition space, hosting thousands of stalls showcasing their high standards and service offerings across a range of workplaces.
I visited The Workplace Event and The Security Event, to watch a range of panels, live demonstrations, and even a couple of performing grannies who were dotted about the halls. For the first two days of the event I listened to and took part in hugely varied conversations – from long-term security careers for women, a hackathon on removing workplace silos, to supporting inclusive recruitment practices and updating counter-terrorism procedures.
Day 1 – addressing the imbalance
Throughout the event, panellists explored workplace equality through different perspectives. Sarah Cork, chief growth officer at City Group Security, opened the panel “Accelerating action” with a sobering statistic: the World Economic Forum predicts that closing the global gender gap will take 134 years.
The panel discussed not just the challenge of creating security opportunities for women, but also making them aware that these opportunities exist. Panellists talked about the different groups they work with, and Sarah mentioned her work with Women’s Aid to find candidates for roles, many of whom have not had careers before.
Colin Kimber, co-chair of the LGBT+ in FM network, explored how to integrate allyship into organisations from the top down. The panel emphasised that effective allyship means establishing structures where diverse characteristics are strategically considered, even when the key decision-makers don’t share those identities themselves. It’s one thing to say that an organisation will employ disabled colleagues, and another to explore what that means – whether it means employing a specialist, recruiting through charitable partnerships or integrating new tech and ensuring facilities are fully accessible.
Keep your standards high
Richard Flint of BRE Global delivered a panel on the six stages of delivering effective security, exploring standards, testing and certification. His background in manual forced entry understood potential threats as business propositions. Hostile actors perform their own risk-benefit analyses before targeting facilities.
Security professionals must analyse the “entrepreneurial” aspects of threats. What is the value of what they are targeting, and what investments or risks are they willing to take? Security measures need to create delays that make breaches unattractive, to reduce an attacker’s stamina and willingness to proceed.
Another critical point was matching standards to specific threats. For example, a door optimised for residential security is likely inadequate for protecting a VIP – which means that the threat profile changes completely. These threat deterrents must function within the wider operational requirements of a space.
Across the way, BRE’s Loss Prevention Certification Board were ‘banging’ on, drawing in large crowds for their live tests to demonstrate forced entry testers. The clanging could be heard throughout Richard’s talk, a strong reminder to consider the operational requirements of all assets.
Reuse or recycle?
The “Beyond the surface” panel tackled sustainability challenges in workplace assets. Matthew Rathbone of Business Moves Group emphasised the importance of understanding the entire lifecycle of furniture, fixtures, and equipment (FF&E).
“You need to look at every aspect of the supply chain,” Matthew noted, explaining that every element of the FF&E lifecycle carries carbon impacts. Organisations must understand each asset’s complete journey from start point to end point to make genuinely sustainable decisions.
The panel also highlighted the significant performance gap between what buildings should be doing and what they actually achieve – a 25 percent performance gap that has persisted over the last 40 years. Organisations need to be educated on what their budget can realistically achieve, the carbon benefits of reuse over recycling and the predictive obsolescence of assets.
Removing siloes
On BMG and the Office Moving Alliance (OMA)’s stand, visitors could learn more about these strategies. They even hosted a hackathon on removing workplace siloes and making evidence-based decisions.
Ian Baker, founder and director of the Humans and Places workplace consultancy, moderated the talk. Opinions were varied – some argued that executive directors need to set the organisation’s RTO policy in stone by dedicating themselves to in-person meetings.
Others argued that workforces spread out between head offices and frontline colleagues would benefit from an internal app-based system rather than a stringent RTO policy, because it would allow everyone across a business to connect.
One conclusion was clear – balance. Organisations need to find the one that works for them by creating spaces for colleagues to connect, whether that means hosting online forums or in-person events.
Day 2 – Certifiably certified
On Day 2 of The Security Event, the “Certification and Standards” panel emphasised the importance of third-party certification schemes, with representatives from the National Security Inspectorate (NSI), the British Standards Institute and the Security Industry Authority (SIA).
The speakers addressed concerns from officers, on whether there should be tiered accreditations and whether poor practices are being overlooked. They emphasised that modern audits need to transcend tick-box exercises through the triangulation of business values and strategy, requiring in-person reviews. They advocated for raising awareness of standards with buyers so can better monitor their supply chain.
Jane Debois, SIA head of business standards at the expressed how the SIA will be strengthened under its move to Homeland Security, as it moves under the minister for state for security, Dan Jarvis. The move will combine the SIA’s existing regulation for private security providers and its Martyn’s Law function.
The team emphasised that standards, like BS7449 are living documents drafted and reviewed by industry practitioners. If officers want standards like these to be improved, they need to talk to the NSI and the SIA.
Counter terrorism – the new approach
Counter-terrorism was a major theme throughout the event, particularly timely with Martyn’s Law receiving Royal Assent the previous week. Discussions highlighted how terrorism has evolved, making officer awareness more vital than ever.
Once, terror groups required a dedicated in-person presence, but radicalisation through online channels has upended this. Criminologist and terrorism specialist Sagit Yehoshua noted the difficulty in identifying potential attackers in advance, as many don’t exhibit obvious behavioural changes. However, many declare their intentions online shortly before attacks, making intelligence gathering rather vital.
She also noted that attackers may not seek death anymore, but rather admiration and attention for their acts. Important factors to consider as many providers need to reassess their terrorism awareness training.
Is DEI dead?
The Workplace Event and The Security Event hosted a range of productive conversations, but the last talk I watched was a sobering reminder that these talks need to translate into action.
Andrew Hulbert of Pareto FM shared a concerning observation, that in the last 6 weeks he has seen more DEI rollbacks than in the previous 15 years, with major companies operating in the US like Meta, Amazon and Boeing removing their DEI initiatives.
The panel acknowledged that US influence is not necessarily upending the UK’s progress, but that shouting about the business case for inclusivity is still necessary, with a skills shortage across industries, widening the talent pool was a “no-brainer,” according to panellist Sharon Slinger, director of Constructing Rainbows. Workplace conflict has an eye-watering cost too, costing UK businesses £28.5 billion a year.
The panel noted that though some younger generations consider DEI an intrinsic part of workplaces, remaining cautious of the rise of discriminatory and misogynistic voices was important too. That meant acknowledging DEI conversations could unintentionally leave behind some groups. Inclusivity is for everyone, no matter class, race or gender, so supporting the mental health of white, working-class boys remains important.
Final thoughts
The many stalls, performers, talks and demonstrations hosted in NEC Birmingham, one thing was clear – sustainability, inclusivity, awareness and education aren’t separate considerations, they are essential and interlinked elements of modern workplace management.
This event was the perfect place to kickstart these key conversations, but they need to keep happening. Hopefully, organisations across the FM and security industries left the event with some new ideas for bettering their workplaces.
We regularly attend events throughout the FM industry, so read up on the sector news section of our website for more event recaps, and if you’re attending, let us know! We’re always happy to chat.
