EventGuard was selected as a finalist in the Eastern Daily Press recruitment awards for the second year running.
“The prestige of being selected out of hundreds of local companies to be in the top three is tremendous recognition of the importance EventGuard attaches to staff training and personnel development,” commented Managing Director Martin Leeder.
Ten staff were selected as a reward for their continued hard work and commitment and attended the gala black tie event to represent EventGuard on the night.
EventGuard ensures stars safety at Christmas lights switch on
EventGuard was employed to manage security at the Christmas light switch on for the Castle Mall shopping centre in Norwich.
With the lights being switched on by X-Factor finalist Jamie Archer, a large crowd turned out for the evening spectacle.
EventGuard’s 27 staff and two managers work seamlessly alongside the Mall’s own security personnel, ensuring the safety of the star and the visitors during the build up to the switch on and Jamie’s subsequent 40 minute autograph signing.
Carnival contract renewed for further three years
EventGuard has been re-awarded a three year contract to supply security services for the Cromer Carnival.
With around 40,000 visitors each year, the Cromer Carnival is the largest in the area. Event Guard has been the events security supplier for the last four years and had to tender for the contract again this year.
Managing Director Martin Leeder commented “I am delighted with the award of this contract; it clearly shows that the quality and level of service we provide is unrivalled in this area.”
EventGuard’s Site Security Manager who has managed the contract for the last four years, came in for particular praise: “It is a direct result of hard work commitment, and attention to detail that has meant the committee voted unanimously to continue with EventGuard,” Leeder said.
Pat West the security manager for the carnival committee said, “EventGuard has continued to improve the safety and security of all those attending each year. It is the can do attitude along with the quality of staff that stands this company way above the rest.”
Jockey Club saddles up with EventGuard
Having already extended their involvement with the Newmarket Racecourse, EventGuard has now signed a two-year deal with The Jockey Club coving both Newmarket and Huntingdon racecourses.
The contract is worth in excess of £100k and will see EventGuard providing the stewarding and security at the two Newmarket courses, The Rowley Mile and The July Course which jointly attract over 350,000 race-goers each year, and the course in Huntingdon.
The July Course is also the venue for seven high profile concerts each year, for which EventGuard will also be providing the security.
Martin Leeder, EventGuard Managing Director, commented “We are delighted to be the stewarding and security provider to these prestigious courses, and particularly to extend our involvement with Newmarket with it’s worldwide reputation as ‘the home of racing’ ”
EventGuard to see cyclists safely through cities
EventGuard are supporting the Norfolk stages of the 2010 Tour of Britain.
The company will have around 90 staff helping with the marshalling, crowd control and assisting the local constabulary with hand over at critical points.
EventGuard will be covering the start in Kings Lynn, the stage through the centre of Norwich and the finish at Great Yarmouth, with the police handling a rolling road-closure operation on the sections between the urban areas.
An estimated 80,000 people are expected to line the route and cheer on the riders
Reaccreditation
EventGuard has been re-accredited under the annual reassessment required as members of the British Security Industries Association, and has also had its ISO 9001 accreditation reaffirmed following the annual review.
Recent contracts
EventGuard has announced a number of new and renewed contracts to kick off the third quarter of 2010:
Out-of-hours alarm response and key holding for Norfolk Toyota dealership Dingles Group. Ensuring efficient security procedures are in place is vital bearing in mind the several hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of stock sitting in their showroom.
OPEN is a Norwich based youth facility offering, dance studio, music venue, health suite, advice and guidance centre and climbing wall. EventGuard was awarded the contract to provide key holding and evening and night time security services. The company is also providing security staff for the weekend evening SOS bus that helps youngsters get home around the City.
July 2010 saw over 90 EventGuard staff handing the security, marshalling and stewarding for the annual Lord Mayors Procession. Each year around 35,000 people line the streets of Norwich on the 1 mile route through the City centre and EventGuard has been providing security for the last 5 years.
The City Council also organises ‘Sparks in the Park’ the annual fireworks display that attracts around 20k people in November, and EventGuard have again been awarded the on-the-night security contract.
In 2010 Basildon Town Council is staging two music concerts at Billericay – one classical evening and one with Will Young. In 2009 the Council put on one concert and EventGuard’s handing of the security won them the contract for this year’s events.
For the third year running EventGuard was contracted to provide route stewarding, car park marshalling and general security for the annual Tamilspilgrimage to the holy shrine at Walsingham in North Norfolk. Working in conjunction with Norfolk Constabulary, EventGuard was involved at all stages of the event planning to ensure a safe and enjoyable pilgrimage for the 8,000 plus visitors, and deployed 52 staff on the day.
The 2010 Tour of Britain will see estimated crowds of 80,000 plus lining the routes to cheer on the cyclists.
EventGuard will have around 74 staff marshalling the Norfolk section stages, stewarding, and managing road closure on 16th September. There will be three sections in Norfolk: the start at Kings Lynn, a mid section through Norwich city centre, and the end at Great Yarmouth.
The event will also provide another opportunity for students studying to qualify under the 2012 Olympics ‘Bridging the Gap’ scheme, to gain practical experience of event stewardship.
EventGuard first to undertake new specialist training requirement
EventGuard are set to become the first security firm in Norfolk to have staff Qualified under new requirements of the industry’s governing body, the British Security Industry Association (SIA).
When their operating licence comes due for renewal all existing SIA registered door staff, and any new entrants to the field, must now undertake specific training in ‘Physical Intervention’ which is a National Level 2 award.
Around 30 of EventGuard’s staff are due to undergo the training before the end of the year according to Managing Director Martin Leeder.
The course has been designed by local company Elite Academy of Security Training, one of only a select number companies in the UK to be approved to provide the training to trainers as well as Door Staff, and whose partners have over 20 years experience in teaching the police and prison officers in UK, Europe and the USA.
“With recent tragedies involving door security staff and members of the public, the police are keen that all people working in this sector of the industry are properly trained in physical intervention,” commented one of Elite’s partners, Bob Betts.
“We have been working with EventGuard for many years now,” Betts added, “and they were the first to approach us when the new SIA requirement was announced. Some senior members of their staff will also become accredited to deliver the training course.”
EventGuard are a subsidiary of Norse commercial services.
EventGuard helps students Bridge-the-Gap for 2012 Olympics - BBC Look East
Sarah de Chair, Show Manager at the Norfolk Showground was full of praise for the EventGuard team and students:
“Event Guard have organised our road traffic management for the past two years at the Royal Norfolk Show and I can’t praise them enough for a job very well done. The team are approachable, no sooner are they asked to do something it is done, they are full of new ideas for improvement and problem solving. It is reassuring, as an event organiser, to have such a great team behind me, I could not recommend them more highly.”
EventGuard helps students Bridge-the-Gap for 2012 Olympics
EventGuard is acting as appraiser for the practical assessment elements of a level 2 qualification in understanding stewarding, ready for the London Olympics.
Called ‘Bridging the Gap’, the project is aimed at helping train college students to provide additional, trained stewarding personnel for the 2012 London Olympics.
As part of their assessment, students from East Norfolk Sixth Form College in Gorleston, the local training provider, have been involved with a number of high profile events for which EventGuard have provided security and stewarding.
At the end of June, 25 students worked alongside EventGuard personnel, marshalling the car parks and stewarding at the annual Royal Norfolk Show.
At the Norwich City FC promotion procession through the city centre in May, 22 students helped marshal the thousands of fans who turned out to cheer the team along the route.
In April, 20 students worked with EventGuard staff when a high profile South African delegation and international football star visited a number of locations around Norfolk.
EventGuard Managing Director Martin Leeder, said that helping the students understand the practical aspects of event stewarding and security has a double benefit. “Not only will this qualification help ensure a smooth running London Olympics,” he commented, “but it also plays an important role in making the youngsters appreciate the need for discipline and control at other events that they and their friends might attend, such as concerts, sports matches and public gatherings.”
Bob Betts, Project co-ordinator for the Eastern Region and a teacher at the college said, “This project will not only provide qualified staff for the 2012 games but, as a legacy, it will introduce a new generation of staff ready to work in the Stewarding and Security industry in the area. The partnership of the college and Event Guard has been fantastic for the students and is seen as an example of “Best Practice” for the National Project.”
The College Principal, Laurie Poulson, added, “This scheme is providing our Public Services students with some very valuable insights and experiences which help to put their main studies into a practical context.”
EventGuard add to their fleet of patrol vehicles
EventGuard continue to grow and develop and have now increased their fleet of vehicles to cope with the demand for mobile patrols and alarm responses to clients premises.
Managing Director Martin Leeder commented: “It is testament to the development of these crucial areas within the company that clients are seeing the importance of having a locally based company looking after their business interests.”
Manager of this arm of the business added: “The high demand over recent months highlights the excellent benefits to having a visible deterrent at all times of the day and night.”
EventGuard on the ball with procession security
EventGuard ensured that football League Division One winners Norwich City’s promotion procession through the City ran to schedule and without incident.
Over 30,000 jubilant fans lined the route through the city centre to celebrate their clubs promotion to the Championship.
EventGuard, official security contractors to the procession’s organisers Norwich City Council, had over 100 personal deployed along the 1 mile route and in the grounds of the final destination, the City’s famous Norman castle.
With a high turnout anticipated to cheer the victorious team, both the City Council and Norfolk Constabulary insisted that EventGuard were involved from the initial planning stages of the event.
Helen Selleck, Events and Culture Manager at Norwich City Council commented, “We are very lucky to have such a positive ‘can do’ group of organisations in the city that can work together and turn these things around so quickly. It was a real pleasure working with EventGuard.”
“We were absolutely delighted to take part in the celebrations, both to ensure the safety of the fans, players and club personnel, and to be able to show our own support for the team,” commented EventGuard Managing Director Martin Leeder.
Two of EventGuard’s staff, Neil Hoeppner and Chris Mann, have been life-long fans and were keen to express their own thrill at being part of the carnival atmosphere.
“It was absolutely brilliant to be a part of the celebration and to help with making it run smoothly,” Chris said. “Great to see the team back in the Championship and to be able to be there with all the other fans who turned out to cheer them on,” were Neil’s comments.
EventGuard are the only security firm in Norfolk and Suffolk to be fully accredited by the police.
EventGuard secures The Forum
The Forum Trust has appointed EventGuard as providers of overnight security at The Forum, Norwich’s landmark Millennium building.
The Forum houses the Norfolk & Norwich Millennium Library, BBC East’s headquarters and a number of other high profile tenants. It is also home to a year-round line-up of events, activities and exhibitions.
The contract will cover premises patrols of The Forum and the surrounding complex, access control and CCTV monitoring from Midnight through to 7am. BBC Radio Norfolk will be main user of services with staff often present throughout the night.
The initial contract is for a three-year period, with an optional extension for a further two years and takes the value of security agreements that EventGuard has with The Forum Trust to around £44,000 a year.
Steve Falvey, Head of Operations & Facilities for The Forum Trust, said “By adding this additional contract I am pleased to build on a long-standing working relationship which started when we opened The Forum back in 2001.
We’ve worked closely with EventGuard during many events and activities over the years and have always been extremely happy with the professional and customer-focused approach their personnel provide.”
EventGuard is a leading provider of professional Security Industry Authority (SIA) licensed security personnel, ranging from one-off events to long-term and comprehensive security services. They are also the only security company in Norfolk to gain police accreditation.
On Song for 2010
Tickeast, the concert management company, has again appointed EventGuard to provide security at the six events it is staging during the 2010 summer season.
EventGuard will have between 25 and 45 staff at each of the high-profile concerts, which include Katherine Jenkins, Will Young, Simply Red, Madness and Russell Watson.
“Working with EventGuard in 2009 was an absolute pleasure,” commented Roy Trickett, director of Tickeast, “They were the obvious choice to provide our security at the series of concerts again this year. It doesn’t matter where around the country we stage an event, the EventGuard team can always be relied on.”
The contract is worth £30k a year and will see EventGuard personnel at locations including the Royal Park at Sandringham, Chelmsford and Romsey in Hampshire.
Racing Certainty
EventGuard will be providing additional security personnel for the 2010 season of race meetings, including the One Thousand and Two Thousand Guineas, and evening concerts at Newmarket Racecourse.
With increased numbers of punters and visitors expected this year, EventGuard have been awarded the contract to supply the additional security personnel needed to ensure safety and protection around the course, members’ enclosure and car parks.
A spokesperson for Newmarket said “EventGuard provided superb levels of service across all aspects of security during 2009 and, with our anticipated growth in visitor numbers this year, we are confident that they are well placed to deliver the same high standards that the Newmarket Racecourse is renowned for.”
The Newmarket deal is part of a £140k a year contract that EventGuard has with the Jockey Club.
“We are delighted to be working with Newmarket Racecourse again this year,” commented EventGuard Managing Director Martin Leeder. “Over the first weekend, we had in excess of 100 staff deployed to multiple locations around the course, and security at the first race of the season went like clockwork.”
EventGuard win at prestigious local Recruitment Awards
EventGuard won the accolade of the ‘Judges Special Acknowledgement’ award for the best company of all entrants, at the 2009 EDP Recruitment Awards.
“It’s a great honour to win this recognition,” commented EventGuard Managing Director Martin Leeder. “it is a strong endorsement of our recruitment and training policy that is vital in the provision of professional security staff.”
EventGuard was also a finalist in the ‘Team of the Year’ category, where the judges look for teams that are both cohesive and successful, and that consistently achieves its goals, and the ‘Manager of the Year’ category, where provision of direction and motivation of others were prime criteria.
The annual event celebrates and recognises the many talents held by individuals, teams and companies in the Norfolk and North Suffolk area.
Quality Security
EventGuard has attained the required standard and passed the audit for ISO 9001 quality standards for security.
Managing Director, Martin Leeder commented, “This is excellent news for our clients and demonstrates EventGuard’s continuing commitment to providing the highest standards in security services. A huge amount of thanks must go to all the staff whose effort and time in putting all the processes in place ensured we achieved our aim.”
EventGuard, part of Norse Commercial Services, provides a range of security services including event stewarding and security,traffic management,static guarding,door supervision, cash collection, keyholding and alarm response.
The company is also fully Security Industry Authority (SIA) licensed and accredited by Norfolk Constabulary.
Public praise EventGuard for Gala Day security
2009 was the first year that security at the Norfolk Gala Day was not provided by Norfolk Constabulary.
The event, at the Norfolk Showground, attracted over 15,000 visitors to the day of activities and shows that included a specialist boat display on the lake, a village green with dancing and music all day, the popular Motor X demonstrations and a large craft fair,
Chris Eldridge Norfolk Gala Day Manager was extremely impressed with EventGuard’s team: “I would like to thank the EventGuard team for their commitment, professionalism and smartness when they took on a number of roles at this year’s Gala Day, the first without Norfolk Constabulary. People have gone out of their way to praise the EventGuard staff.”
“As the site manager,” Chris continued, “ I liased with EventGuard’s Manager Kerri who was exemplary and, despite a long day, remained enthusiastic as did the whole team.”
Managing Director Martin Leeder was pleased at the response of visitors: “The positive comments and feedback from the event visitors was tremendous; for people to take the time to go out of their way to pass on these comments is a great testament to the staff at this event.”
EventGuard manages concert security at royal venues
EventGuard are organising and managing security at six high-profile concerts around the UK, including three in Royal grounds.
Chelmsford based Envy Productions are staging concerts at The Royal Norfolk Showground, Southampton, Billericay, and the Royal Estates of Gatcombe Park and Sandringham.
EventGuard Managing Director Martin Leeder said that having Police Accreditation obviously stood the company in good stead, particularly with the vetting procedures necessary for any operation to do with Royal Estates.
“We were literally in Princess Anne’s back garden at Gatcombe Park for the Madness and Katherine Jenkins concerts,” he comments, “working closely with Gloucestshire Constabulary and the Royal Estates Police.
With three of the events now under their belt, Roy Trickett of Envy Productions was full of praise for the EventGuard team:
“The service we receive from EventGuard is first class - the guards themselves, the event security and all aspects of the event management. Their service delivery is second to none at all levels.”
Her Royal Highness Princess Anne attended both concerts adding to the great atmosphere created by the fine weather and top class musical entertainment.
EventGuard short listed for prestigious industry award
EventGuard has been short listed for one of the top ‘Security Excellence Awards’ at the Security Industries Authority’s Approved Contractor Scheme (ACS) annual awards ceremony.
The 'ACS Champion of the Year' award is open to all Approved Contractors and seeks to identify those that have taken exceptional steps to further the spirit of the scheme. EventGuard is one of just six finalists selected from over 600 UK firms that operate as part of the scheme.
As part of the short-listing process, the judges looked for:
• Active promotion of the scheme and its benefits with customers and other stakeholders
• Consistent contribution to furthering the aims of the scheme
• Evidence of creation of a safer environment for the public
• Participation in new opportunities for the private security industry
Managing Director Martin Leeder commented, “Being short listed for an award of this importance is a great honour. It acknowledges both EventGuard’s commitment to ensuring professionalism in the industry, and the innovative approach the company takes to managing security across a wide range of private and public sector clients.”
The winner will be announced at the Security Excellence Awards in London’s Park Lane Hilton Hotel, on 22 October 2009.
The SIA Approved Contractor Scheme aims to raise standards and promote good practice for the creation of a safer environment for the public and better opportunities for the private security industry.
Norse takes over College security
As of 1st August 2009, Norse Commercial Services has taken over a range of security services to one of the country’s largest further and higher education colleges.
Security at City College Norwich, which enrols over 14,000 students a year and employs around 1000 staff, will involve CCTV, mobile patrols, alarm monitoring, parking and on-site traffic management, money collection and transfer, and portering duties undertaken by Security Caretakers.
The initial 3-year contract, which will be delivered by Norse subsidiary EventGuard, was won following a competitive tendering process that involved some the country’s leading security providers and is worth £450k per annum, with options to extend for a further 2 years.
Dick Palmer, Principal of City College Norwich, said: “Security arrangements are an integral aspect of creating the right learning environment for our students and staff. I look forward to a successful working partnership with EventGuard, to help ensure that the College continues to be regarded as a safe and secure place for all in which to learn, work or visit”.
Norse Sales and Marketing Director Geoff Tucker commented:
“The City College contract is a clear example of how times have changed in the way a large scale security operation can be managed via a partnership approach. We are proud to be able to deliver, as part of our commitment to the local community, our high quality service to such a large and well respected institution.”
All 23 existing security staff have taken up the opportunity to transfer to EventGuard under TUPE regulations. The EventGuard team will be led by Managing Director Martin Leeder and General Manager, Martin Leeder.
National media interest in EventGuard accreditation
Gaining Police Accreditation has attracted national media interest in EventGuard.
The move by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) to empower duly-accredited private firms to issue fixed penalty notices for certain offences, and to direct traffic on the public highway, came under the national media spotlight recently.
The Times article highlighted EventGuard’s role in ‘high-profile’ events such as the Royal Norfolk Show, and acknowledged that the company ‘has a high reputation locally’ with clients that ‘include Cambridge Football Club, the University of East Anglia and the BBC’.
EventGuard Managing Director Martin Leeder was with his team at an event in Essex when the Times rang his mobile asking for an interview.
This was followed by calls from the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, BBC TV and Radio 4 and the Eastern Evening News, resulting in considerable coverage of the company’s role in augmenting the police service.
EventGuard security at swineflu clinics
EventGuard has been awarded the NHS contract to provide security at the, potentially, 10 swineflu clinics around Norfolk.
Additional clinics will be opened as the number of swineflu cases increases.
Martin Leeder, managing Director of EventGuard said that with the number of people worried about getting the Tamiflu drug, the NHS and staff at hospitals and surgeries were concerned about potential security at the special clinics that have been identified to handle the demand.
Traffic Management
The annual, two-day Royal Norfolk Show regularly attracts over 100,000 visitors, adding considerably to the traffic flow around the Showground on the outskirts of Norwich.
In 2009 traffic management for the Show was, for the first time, the responsibility of an organisation other the local constabulary, with the contract being awarded to EventGuard.
Throughout the two days the company’s staff were deployed at the key junctions on roads leading to the showground, earning high praise from Norfolk Constabulary.
Colin Page, traffic manager for Norfolk Constabulary, hailed the way EventGuard managed the whole operation, saying, “ The traffic management this year carried out by EventGuard was delivered with excellent results; it was the best it has been for several years.“
Martin Leeder, Managing Director of EventGuard was full of praise for his staff:
“The quality of staff and the work they put in to ensure everyone got into the show with as little disruption as possible was superb. The remarks by the constabulary speak volumes and clearly endorse our position as a leading supplier in this field.”
As the only company in Norfolk accredited to carry out such work EventGuard is seeing considerable increase in the number of requests to organise traffic management. In addition to the Royal Norfolk Show, the company organised and carried out the management of traffic for the Norwich Lord Mayor’s celebrations and at the Blickling Hall concerts, and has contracts for a number of other key events in and around the County in 2009.
EventGuard sponsors summer family activity events
Proving that you can combine work and play, EventGuard are the principal sponsors of ‘Kids go Wild’, a summer event aimed at exciting the imagination and encouraging awareness of nature and the environment.
EventGuard Managing Director Martin Leeder commented, “Putting something back into the community is very much at the heart of the EventGuard business ethos, and we are delighted to be involved with this great range of activities that will appeal to all the family.“
EventGuard will also provide stewards and security staff for the range of activities that are taking place at Norwich’s State-of-the-art library and information centre, The Forum, from 18th to the 24th July.
The event includes a taste of the exotic, with a Natural History Museum called Eating Creepy Crawlies which explores cultures around the world who dine on insects; two great children’s book adaptations; the chance to be swallowed by a 50ft inflatable whale and to meet camels, gorillas and an opportunity to get up close with various animals of all size on screen in a series of movies.
Police Accreditation first for EventGuard
EventGuard are the first private security firm in Norfolk to achieve accreditation under the Norfolk Constabulary Community Safety Accreditation Scheme.
The scheme allows the Chief Constable to accredit organisations to assist the police in tackling, and therefore reducing, anti-social behaviour. By becoming part of the wider police family, and under the Police Reform Act 2002, this gives the accredited person limited but targeted powers to help address local needs.
To date 25 members of EventGuard’s staff have individually passed the rigorous vetting and training process. The qualification is reviewed annually by the police, with checking of both individuals and the company under strict police policies.
Martin Leeder, Managing Director, EventGuard, commented, “The benefits are wide ranging. The police gain an additional fully trained resource, the community see increased safety, and for EventGuard there will be new business opportunities. As an accredited company, the in-depth training our staff receive means we can now offer an even higher calibre of personnel to our clients.”
Call us now on 01603 894200 or email admin@eventguard.co.uk
All EventGuard security staff are fully licensed and vetted to and above the required British Standards ensuring a standard of professionalism we can be proud of.
