Why 2nd Line Of Defence Was Formed
2nd Line of Defence – the UK’s first female-focused recruitment agency in the private security sector – was established to address the talent shortage of fully trained and vetted Security Industry Authority (SIA) licensed front-line door supervisor security staff in the UK.
Our focus is on filling these roles with a new, diverse and inclusive workforce with a gender bias towards women. We aim to be more than just a recruitment company specialising in the UK’s private security industry, as more than ever, the safety of women and vulnerable people is at the forefront of issues facing the night-time cultural economy.
There will be a particular drive to hire women and make them more visible at the doors of venues, ultimately changing the perception of what it takes to be a door supervisor. The ultimate purpose is to provide a more effective, diverse workforce. This will reflect venues’ customer base more accurately and working together with venues should help to keep everyone safer.
It Was In Response To Two Major Events That Lead To The Creation Of 2nd Line Of Defence...
Brexit and the UK’s COVID-19 responses to the pandemic have resulted in large-scale displacement of door supervisors working in the night-time economy in different roles. The Security Industry Authority (SIA), the UK’s regulatory body of the private security industry, have reported a significate drop in licence applications. The combining factors have left the industry with (up to) 60% of job roles being vacant in regions across the country.
Research commissioned by the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) and conducted by leisure consultants CGA and night-time economy researchers Make, found that the sector in the UK – encompassing restaurants, bars, casinos, cultural venues and more – had been steadily growing over the last decade, reaching a peak in 2019. Within that broader sector, the NTCE employed 425,000 people that year, a 12.2% increase since 2010, with the sector valued at £36.4bn.
On the evening of 3 March 2021, Sarah Everard, a 33-year-old marketing executive, was kidnapped in South London, as she was walking home from a friend’s house. Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens told Everard that he was arresting her for having breached COVID-19 regulations. Instead, he drove her to near Dover where he raped and strangled her, before burning her body and disposing of her remains in a nearby pond.
“Every woman should feel safe to walk on our streets without fear of harassment or violence”; it is this core theme that sparked widespread debate about women’s safety and violence against women in the UK. After Sarah’s murder, the British government reopened its public consultation on its violence against women and girls strategy, receiving an additional 160,000 responses in two weeks.
However, some feminist campaigners argued that not enough changed in the wake of the murder. Andrea Simon, of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, stated that “the measures that could make a difference and the resourcing are not where they need to be”.
On 17 September 2021, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services published a report commissioned by the government after the murder, finding “inconsistencies at every level in how the police respond to violence against women and girls (VAWG) and victims” and that there needed to be a “radical refocus and shift in the priority given to VAWG offences”.
On 9 October 2021, it was reported that BT chief executive Philip Janson had outlined plans for Walk Me Home, a phone service designed to protect lone women as they walk home. The service would allow users to be tracked using the Global Positioning System (GPS), and send out alerts to emergency contacts and the police if they did not arrive at their destination when expected. The service would be activated by dialling a number, with 888 proposed as the number users would need to call. The proposal was supported by Home Secretary Priti Patel.
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