The Security Industry Authority was officially launched at a conference event held at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, Westminster on 2nd April 2003.
Over 780 delegates came to our launch representing suppliers of security services, purchasers, trade associations, the police, local authorities and the media as well as the staff from the SIA.
Various speakers addressed the conference after an opening video address from the Home Secretary. Please click on their name to read a copy of their speech.
You will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your machine to view these documents – to obtain the latest version, click here.
Lord Falconer, Minister of State for Criminal Justice, Sentencing and Law Reform spoke about the wider implications of licensing for the industry. He also spoke about some of the key drivers that brought about the Private Security Industry Act 2001, the contents of which the SIA is now implementing.
Molly Meacher, then Chairman of the SIA and John Saunders, Chief Executive both gave some of the available details about how the licensing schemes will be implemented.
Thomas Berglund, President and Chief Executive Officer, Securitas Services gave a perspective of how licensing and regulation has worked in other countries and the affect that this has had on industry.
Chris Humphries, Director General, City & Guilds spoke about how industry needs to invest in training if it is to recruit and keep an experienced and motivated workforce. Click here to view the presentation Chris Humphries used.
Sir John Stevens, Commissioner, Metropolitan Police Service spoke about his view of how the private security industry might be able to work with the wider police family in the future.
There were also three open forums where questions from delegates were put to a panel made up of the speakers together with other high profile people within the private security industry.
Video
There are several video clips of the conference available. Please click here to view these.
Please note that our website has been substantially updated to reflect the announcements made at the conference.