Wednesday, 1st May 2024

Trident Manor personnel provided a high-profile client in New Zealand with specialist consultancy services associated with the protection of their assets.

Andy Davis, our Managing Director, received a request to undertake a security risk assessment of a high-profile venue while in New Zealand. An unannounced evaluation was carried out without the knowledge of the client or the staff operating within the venue. This is an important activity as it allows staff to be seen operating as they would without any prior knowledge of the review. The unannounced visit also allows an orientation to take place at your own pace and not that of hosts. This information can then be analysed to start forming opinions and allow questions to be asked during the formal review visit.

During the formal review visit, it was important to put the hosts at ease. There is nothing worse than a security review being seen as a pre-defined audit. Audits are great if you want a ‘tick box’ answer but they invariably do not have the quality and understanding that can be achieved by putting the hosts at ease and having them tell you about their concerns and perceived vulnerabilities.

The review evaluated the external areas, including public spaces that fell within the footprint of the venue before moving inside and considering the physical, technical, and operational security measures that existed. It was also important to see how much ‘security in depth’ had been created to ensure effective robustness and resilience and that assets were as protected as they needed to be.

While vulnerabilities were identified there were also good examples of strategic thinking aimed at the protection of assets, running parallel with some effective operational practices. Where vulnerabilities were identified these were discussed before leaving the site so that nobody could be accused of changing viewpoints.

Whenever undertaking security reviews and assessments it is important to identify delivery timelines and to either meet or deliver reports, presentations, or findings promptly, so any recommendations remain valid.

Trident Manor will always review the quality and content of any report being passed to clients so that if there are any issues with the content it comes back to Trident Manor, not the individual doing the assessment.

In this review, the reports have already been submitted, and we are now awaiting the client's observations and comments before reducing the risk to their assets as low as is practicable. Irrespective of where you are in the world Trident Manor can support your asset protection activities so please feel free to contact us.