North East team launches new organisation to support UK’s security workers

A new social enterprise launched in Gateshead is aiming to support hundreds of thousands of door supervisors and other security workers.

The Security Professionals Support Co-operative (SPSC), set up by four North East entrepreneurs, will initially create up to eight jobs as it looks to tackle the challenges facing security staff in the UK.

Occupying a 1,500 sq ft office in the Stonehills complex at Bill Quay, the SPSC plans to grow its team and open new offices across the South, North West, Midlands and Scotland over the next two to three years.

It will offer training opportunities and employment support for the UK’s estimated 425,000 security personnel. The SPSC will also seek to improve industry standards, lobby for better wages and conditions, and help ex-service and unemployed people access careers in the industry.

According to the SPSC, the UK is currently in the grip of an escalating security industry crisis. Terrorism and violent crime have increased the demand for public security, but security industry standards have fallen due to low wages, inconsistent training provision and a lack of regulations, the organisation said.

One of the SPSC’s co-founders is Rob Dixon, owner of Washington firm Kelco’s Security, which has more than 70 security personnel on its books.

Rob said: “Having operated a security business in the North East for over a decade, I’ve recently seen the industry hit an all-time low.

“Demand is going up and risks and dangers are changing, but personnel support and development are not moving with the times.”

He added: “There is no support network for self-employed individuals, who are sometimes exploited by venue owners paying below minimum wage and are under pressure to deal with a range of threats.”

Rob co-founded the SPSC alongside his wife Stacey, who runs the Wheatsheaf Hotel in Boldon; former Royal Marine Michael O’Donnell, who now runs engraving business Advanced Engravers in Washington; and head of training Rob Storey.

Gateshead Mayor Cllr Jill Green commented: “It’s great to see such a promising business choose Gateshead as its base and working with unemployed and ex-servicemen, which can only help the borough as a whole improve on employment rates.”

The SPSC was advised by the Co-operatives UK group, which provides support for community-interest organisations.

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