Operational Updates
Our operation at The All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club has continued to grow over the last few years and it was great to see The Championship back with full crowds but also an extra day with the Middle Sunday now becoming a permanent fixture. Our team have not only been managing the route from Southfields to the venue, but also Car Park 10 management and external security/SIA services, including the pre-checking of trade vehicles before arrival on site (this has meant X-Ray search training).
We have been supporting the Epsom Derby since the 90's when we only provided car parking services. Over 25 years later the operation encompasses all soft services, security and stewarding, traffic management as well as car parking. The scale of the operation has grown considerably as well with increased hospitality facilities as well as the fairground and market on The Hill.
One of the City of London’s oldest traditions is the Boar’s Head Procession which typically takes place in early December. For 2021, the pre-Christmas event was delayed until January 2022. This annual event sees the ‘Worshipful Company of Butchers’, one of the oldest of the City’s Livery Companies, dating back to 975AD, donning their fur-trimmed robes, process from their Hall in Bartholemew Close and make their way to Mansion House, the home of the Lord Mayor of the City of London. With its roots dating back to 1343, The Boar's Head is an annual payment for a piece of land in the City of London granted to the Butchers for the disposal of waste - while the land no longer exists the annual ceremony continues to this day.
Christmas Day is traditionally, regardless of personal beliefs or customs, a day when we can all take a break and spend some quality time with family with good food, drink and leisure activities. Those working at Kempton Park for the King George VI Chase will see it as a break between the preparations going on until Christmas Eve and re-starting the very next day on Boxing Day. But it is important to recognise those who give up their Christmas Day to support our operations and allow the rest of us to enjoy quality time.
We secured a term contract at Olympia London in 2019 following a competitive tender process. The venue is earmarked as a true destination through a significant development plan that will include hotels, bars and restaurants as well as performance venues in addition to the existing conference and exhibition trade. As we launched into this new contract with planning meetings on how the development would take place, Covid hit and we never quite got into the full calendar.
As we provide security services to our clients, including SIA licensed staff, it hace been important to us to ensure that we renew our status as part of the Approved Contractor Scheme (ACS) each year to give our clients the confidence in the quality of service we provide, but also to ourselves by way of an audit to ensure we are performing to the standards expected by the ACS