Retail Security solution

Support Services Group SSG & RDS Introduction

Support Services Group

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Retail Security Officer Solution

By David Stubbs



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Index

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................................ 3

SUPPORT SERVICES GROUP ...................................................................................................................... 5

MISSION .............................................................................................................................................................. 5 HISTORY ............................................................................................................................................................. 5 ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE ......................................................................................................................... 5 GUARDING DIVISION .......................................................................................................................................... 6 RETAIL SOLUTION OVERVIEW .......................................................................................................................... 6 SERVICE DEPLOYMENT TYPES ............................................................................................................................. 7 EMERGENCY SERVICE ......................................................................................................................................... 7 SPECIAL PROJECT ................................................................................................................................................ 8 MANAGED SERVICE ............................................................................................................................................. 8 CONTRACTED SERVICE ........................................................................................................................................ 8 INCIDENT AND ACTIVITY MANAGEMENT .......................................................................................................... 9 LIVE COMMUNICATIONS ...................................................................................................................................... 9 INCIDENT & ACTIVITY LOG ................................................................................................................................ 10 REPORTING ........................................................................................................................................................ 10 SERVICE & CUSTOMER MANAGEMENT .......................................................................................................... 10 QUALITY MANAGEMENT ................................................................................................................................... 11 COMPLAINT MANAGEMENT .............................................................................................................................. 11 ACCREDITATIONS............................................................................................................................................. 12



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Executive Summary

Support Services Group was established in April 2000 as a supplier of risk and security management services to the private and public sector, employing approximately 600 staff nationally and operating through its divisional structure, the Group maintains a national office network based in Swindon, Derby and Glasgow with the Group 24 hour control room located in Bristol.

The Groups Guarding Division operates three distinct portfolios: Retail, Commercial & the Rapid Deployment

Service, with an Account Manager at the helm of each. Each portfolio operates autonomously with individual

management models, service features and innovations. Additionally the company’s Rapid Deployment

Service provides internal support to the stable

portfolios ensuring industry leading attendance

rates.

Recognising that one size does not fit all SSG

have built a solution for Retailers that offers

flexible manpower deployment and pre-set

event or incident response product bundles.

This allows retailers to run day to day

requirements lean and to invest in highly

effective solutions when it’s required.

The reasons for deploying security officers

across Retail are varied from alarm set failures

to the management of violence and the

deterrent of theft. SSG’s service offering

ensures that the right expertise is delivered to suit the customer requirements.

It’s great getting security officers to turn up and we pride ourselves on maintaining industry leading

attendance rates but this is really where the work starts. It’s imperative that any investment in security

shows a clear return so SSG have devised a web

based, automated incident reporting and guard

activity management system. SSG’s device of choice

is part of the personal equipment issued to the

officer and is worn as part of their uniform.

The device has two way talk capability, so no need

for guards to have mobile phones, and an

immediate help button that gives priority contact to

our 24/7 control room.

To monitor activity at store RFID tags are used to label routine activity and incidents. No more lengthy report

writing for routine issues, the officer simply scans the RFID and the activity is logged. Similarly for serious

incident an initial scan of an RFID tag automatically alerts line management and pre-determined client



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representative through an automated e-mail escalation system. This ensures that the officer is fully

supported and that any subsequent reports are fully completed.

The system automatically generates activity reports in line with the Service Level Agreement so that contract

KPI’s are proven as being maintained, that the activity is validated; normally by the a member of the store

management team and that peaks in incident activity are flagged early allowing the management team to

react accordingly.

Undoubtedly this will allow budget holders to assess their ROI whilst providing hard data to support their

budgeting and targeting for the following years.



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Mission To deliver an end to end risk and security management solution capable of protecting our Clients from a dynamic risk environment through the expert delivery of:

Risk and Threat Analysis

Security Strategy Development and Management

On Site Security Management and Supervision

Leading edge deployment and service management of an extensive Product and Service Portfolio: o Risk Analysis and Modeling o Security Systems, Design Modeling and Implementation o Security Management design and implementation o Manned Guarding o Emergency Response & Rapid Deployment o Remote Monitoring o Mobile Services and Keyholding

History Support Services Group was established in April 2000 as a supplier of risk and security management services to the private and public sector, employing approximately 600 staff nationally and operating through its divisional structure, the Group maintains a national office network based in Swindon, Derby and Glasgow with the Group 24 hour control room located in Bristol. Support Services Group employs a divisional and business unit structure designed to ensure that each part of

the Company develops excellence in their core product or service area and focuses on the specific needs of

their target Customer, while allowing the Group as a whole to deliver a total an end to end risk and security

management solution through its Preventative Technology Management System.

Organisational Structure The Group operates the following divisional

structure:

Solutions

Guarding

Systems

Partners

The solutions division is the spearhead of the

Group’s approach to service, design, delivery

and management. Service and product delivery

is affected through the Groups Guarding and

Systems Divisions with specialist products and

services being deployed through the Groups key

strategic partner network.

• Biometrics

• Forensic accounting

• Data mining

• Specialised software

• CCTV

• Intruder alarms

• Fire systems

• Remote monitoring

• Corporate

• Retail

• Rapid Response

• Mobile Services

• Risk analysis

• Risk reduction

• Cost reduction

• System design

Solutions Guarding

PartnerTechnical



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Guarding Division The Groups Guarding Division operates three distinct portfolios with an Account Manager at the helm. Each

portfolio operates autonomously with individual management models, service features and innovations.

Additionally the company’s Rapid Deployment Service provides internal support to the two stable portfolios

ensuring industry leading attendance rates of over 99.5%.

.

Retail Solution Overview Recognising that one size does not fit all SSG have built a solution for Retailers that offers flexible manpower

deployment and pre-set event or incident response product bundles. This allows retailers to run day to day

requirements lean and to invest in highly

effective solutions when it’s required.

The reasons for deploying security officers

across Retail are varied from alarm set

failures to the management of violence and

the deterrent of theft. SSG’s service offering

ensures that the right expertise is delivered

to suit the customer requirements.

Our retail solution is delivered through two

portfolios, the first our Retail portfolio where

the key competence is Retail Security and

the second our Rapid Deployment Service

where the key competence is the rapid

deployment of manpower.

Often retailers are faced with a serious incident (armed robbery, violence etc.) in a location without a

permanent guarding presence; an immediate response by deploying a well-trained guard to the location the

next time the store opens to offer a physical uniformed presence giving comfort to the store staff is what’s

required. But can it be delivered? These are exactly the knotty issues that our solution deals with; pre-set

SOP’s describing the incident type and the manpower/technical solution, the deployment timeframe and the

expected service level.

In addition SSG have technology support bundles that include web based incident reporting with automated

escalation, 24hr monitored panic alarm system with two way guard communications, electronic (end user)

customer satisfaction surveys all reported through a web based key performance indicator dashboard.



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Service deployment types

Services are deployed in four flavours: 1. Emegency service

a. Short notice, short run delivery of manpower b. Examples: Alarm failures, incident response

2. Special project a. Short notice, medium run delivery of manpower often multi-man b. Examples: High level crime or threat response, seasonal uplift, events, refits

3. Managed service a. Medium notice, long run delivery of manpower in a complex service environment b. Examples: Holiday and relief cover, short hour locations (weekend only etc)

4. Contracted Service a. Annually contracted service with Full time deployed staff

Emergency Service

When you need a guard straight away nothing else matters so we strip out all service complexity and

concentrate on deployment. Dealing with such a dynamic service deployment requires fastidious capacity

management. We split the country into 124 two digit postcodes and each is monitored weekly for:

1. Rapid same day service requests

a. 4hr deployment window

2. Rapid next day service requests

a. Up to 48hrs notice to deployment

We recruit six weeks in advance using actual orders for long term

planned work and predicted trends to forecast the volume. Each

postcode is assigned a category and capability calculations are applied.

These are:

High volume postcodes 25% uplift capability

Medium volume postcodes 20% uplift capability

Low volume postcodes 10% uplift capability

Frequent use postcodes = the highest point (last 12 weeks)

Infrequent use = the highest point (last 6 weeks)

The results speak for themselves. We cover 95% of all customer

requests nationally with a four hour deployment window. At the onset

of any new contract every location for the customer, even if it’s not

currently guarded, is entered onto our system enabling web based

ordering and rapid processing.

The next time a store alarm cannot be set we will be able to deliver services to that store overnight. If you

need next day cover because a member of the store staff has been threatened then our emergency response

team will deploy services to you on time.



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Special Project

If you have a short to medium term ad hoc

requirement, for a pre-planned event we offer a

fully supervised special project team to ensure your

service requirements are met, our staff are

managed autonomously and therefore the event

should not affect ‘business as usual’ operations.

Multiple or single man teams with an ability to

manage some service complexity (the amount

depends on the deployment window) come fully

equipped with the required PPE or other equipment

levels.

These teams can be deployed to store for short or medium run requirements, be it a seasonal uplift such as

Christmas trading or a planned project such as a store refit or new store opening.

Managed Service

Some stores may not be able to budget full time guarding but the risk profile indicates that some temporary

cover or short hours cover (weekend etc.) would be advantageous. Obviously this service needs to of the

same standard as full time cover but the short hours would mean that the guard would only be part time at

store. Additionally across the whole security

contract holiday’s need to be covered by retail

trained staff to ensure service parity.

It’s clear that a more structure approach needs to

be taken so our Managed Service option is

deployed.

The Team pre plan capacity for known weekly

deployment and ensure that the correct training

levels are met across our workforce. These are

considered priority hours and are scheduled first.

The remainder of their weekly hours are then added

to by supporting either the emergency or special

project requirements.

The security officers deployed for managed service requirements are the most senior guards working for the

Rapid Deployment Service; they have already been tried and tested.

Contracted Service

Where you have decided that the risk profile of the store warrants full time cover, perhaps even multi-man

then the Retail team mobilise a fixed resource, ensure equipment levels match the service specification and

that security officers are inducted through our ‘know my job’ retail training programme.



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Our retail portfolio concentrates on labour stability, service quality and effectiveness. The Service Level

agreement sets out the expected standard and

we drive all of our activity against ensuring that

that standard is met.

The management activity cycle involves the

following:

Recruitment

Ensure the security officer meet the

basic industry standard (SIA, Vetting,

English language skills)

Ensure the officer suits the retail

environment (customer service skills,

conflict management, physical presence)

Ensure the officer suits the store (local issues, relationship management)

Training

SIA – Industry standard

Induction – introduction to SSG and to

store location

Appraisals Know my Job – Retail specific

training

Refresher training

Management Visits

Inspection visit

Customer satisfaction

Appraisals

Incident and activity management It’s great getting security officers to turn up and we pride ourselves on maintaining industry leading

attendance rates but this is really where the work starts. It’s imperative that any investment in security

shows a clear return so SSG have devised a web based, automated incident reporting and guard activity

management system.

By combining well tested technology, RFID, SIM, guard tour/communication system and our extensive

knowledge of the retail industry we have developed a system that provides immediate support to a security

officer that has an active incident and live data regarding their activity whilst in store.

Live communications

SSG’s device of choice is part of the personal equipment

issued to the officer and is worn as part of their

uniform.

The device has two way talk capability, so no need for

guards to have mobile phones, and an immediate help

button that gives priority contact to our 24/7 control

room. When dealing with an incident the guard is able

to press the help button and the control room can listen

into the event and decide if further police support is



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required. Additionally the officers line manager, control room or client can call the device and be

automatically connected – calls are auto answered so there is no way an officer can ‘screen’ their calls.

Incident & activity log

To monitor activity at store RFID tags are used to label routine activity and incidents. No more lengthy report

writing for routine issues, the officer simply scans the RFID and the activity is logged. Similarly for serious

incident an initial scan of an RFID tag automatically alerts line management and pre-determined client

representative through an automated e-mail escalation system. This ensures that the officer is fully

supported and that any subsequent reports are fully completed.

Reporting

The system automatically generates activity reports in line with the Service Level Agreement so that contract

KPI’s are proven as being maintained, that the activity is validated; normally by the a member of the store

management team and that peaks in incident activity are flagged early allowing the management team to

react accordingly.

Undoubtedly this will allow budget holders to assess their ROI whilst providing hard data to support their

budgeting and targeting for the following years.

Service & Customer Management Maintaining high levels of customer and staff satisfaction is essential to the continued success of the RDS

product and SSG. SSG utilise a number of systems to monitor the effectiveness of its systems. These include:

Service monitoring dashboard



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Customer satisfaction surveys

Staff concierge service

Customer satisfaction and service quality information is recorded in the field by using ipad & iphone form

technology. This data is recorded in location in front of the security staff and end user and converted into a

central performance monitoring dashboard allowing management teams to view transparent meaningful

performance information.

Quality Management

SSG operate a quality management system accredited to ISO 9001 and are ACS approved. Each year SSG

ensure that it maintains a top 5% audit score using the ACS benchmarking system.

Each account is allocated:

Pre agreed performance measures

Transparent reporting system

Team based operations management

Account manager system (ensures customer satisfaction)

Top to bottom review schedule

The standard review schedule is as follows:

Operations Management

o Weekly between Team Leader

Customer satisfaction

o Account manager monthly client reviews

Ongoing service development

o Quarterly with Divisional Director

Complaint Management

SSG have a 24hr helpdesk facility, an out of hour’s duty manager system and formal disaster management

plans for emergency response.



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General Service complaints are managed/escalated as follows

Accreditations Support Services Group holds the following accreditations:

Approved contractor status from the SIA

UKAS ISO9001 with the recognised industry British standards of BS 7499 and BS 7858.

Certificate Number: 5423/06

NACOSS - The Company holds the National Approved Council for Security Systems Certification

Service Manager

Minor service issues

Response within 20mins

Corrected same day

Account Manager

Re occuring service issues

Response within 20 mins

Corrected same day

Operations Manager

Serious service issue

Same day response

Corrective activity agreed within 48hrs

Divisional Director

Account failure

Same day response

Correwctive activity agreed within 48hrs

"The company has an excellent quality management system with good

commitment at all levels. Internal Audits and Management Reviews

demonstrate the effectiveness of the system."

ISOQAR Quality Assurance Auditor

"… is a very well run company with excellent procedures in place and a

forward thinking management team. The introduction of modern technology

will assist the company in reaching its ambitious business plan. "

Approved Contractor Scheme Auditor

Documents

Retail Security solution