Back to retail it seems

[IDS]

Giving the "cut backs" at my day job as airport security and me being a casual working my hours have recently been very little so thought id go back in to retail. I just received a phone call this evening offering me a 30 hours contract as a uniformed guard at a sports outlet pay starting at £6.78 rising to £7.00 after probation..

Basically i have gathered from my conversation with the said company that it is a scare crow job and I am not sure i like the thought of this to be honest, I wonder what their loss is at the store and if i could convince them to let me try and tackle it hmmmmmm

Anyone hear of a company called top security?

Thanks

IDS

[outofmind12]

Never heard of them. Most likely a small operation.

Scare crow jobs suck, but its money mate.

Their really does seem to be a big rise in demand for retail security recently. Good luck with it

[Mike123]

How much different is the retail wage compared to what you earned working in an airport???

Anything close to £7 is decent for a retail job, most are on minimum wage or bang on £6 per hour

[IDS]

Not much of a difference in rate of pay but completely different to job and what is expected of you and your responsibility

[Kevo]

Top security do a lot of work in the republic,
Not the worst company out there it would seem, Havent heard of issues with wages...
http://www.topsecurity.ie/services.asp

[IDS]

Not the same company it seems Kevo this is a London based firm with a ltd .co.uk url

going in to have a chat with store manager at 4pmish

[Kevo]

Not the same company it seems Kevo this is a London based firm with a ltd .co.uk url

going in to have a chat with store manager at 4pmish

Was wondering alright as i hadent heard of a northern / Overseas expansion.
Good luck with it anyway...

[IDS]

I went into the store yesterday and had a chat with the store manager to see what she was expecting. She said her last security were well useless and not one of them since her time there has made an arrest and her loss is bad, so we had a chat told her what I had in mind and she said she is happy for me to work away and do what I think is best and the more people caught the better so I have a free run at this from her point of view but then I rang the company supplying the security and informed him about my chat and that I was happy to take it on and told him what she expected and what we agreed to and he says "no this is a uniformed role you are to stay at front door and make no arrests" Told him if that was the case to stick it where the sun don't shine he soon changed his mind and now agrees with the store manager and myself start date Thursday week

[outofmind12]

I went into the store yesterday and had a chat with the store manager to see what she was expecting. She said her last security were well useless and not one of them since her time there has made an arrest and her loss is bad, so we had a chat told her what I had in mind and she said she is happy for me to work away and do what I think is best and the more people caught the better so I have a free run at this from her point of view but then I rang the company supplying the security and informed him about my chat and that I was happy to take it on and told him what she expected and what we agreed to and he says "no this is a uniformed role you are to stay at front door and make no arrests" Told him if that was the case to stick it where the sun don't shine he soon changed his mind and now agrees with the store manager and myself start date Thursday week

This just says everything you need to know about our society.

Security companies are scared of providing proper security services incase mistakes are made and some little scrot decides to try and sue them for false arrest.

Good luck with it mate.

[superstacker]

"You are to stay at the front door and make no arrests"

Guy sounds like an ass. Tells me everything I need to know about him and his "security" operation. I know that work is work mate, but I would have been looking elsewhere at that point. If he is going to be like that about the job role, how is he going to be about other issues you might have?

[outofmind12]

"You are to stay at the front door and make no arrests"

Guy sounds like an ass. Tells me everything I need to know about him and his "security" operation. I know that work is work mate, but I would have been looking elsewhere at that point. If he is going to be like that about the job role, how is he going to be about other issues you might have?

Its all because of money grabbing lawyers mate.

You stop someone you know is knicking, a serial offender, you have SCONE, but at some point they managed to get rid of the item without you seeing (despite your eyes never leaving them, for example the shop might be very busy at the time), so you stop them and they have nothing, then they get in touch with some dirty lawyer who helps them sue you / your company / the shop for false arrest, despite the fact you apologised for the "mistake" etc..

I was told at my company induction that a false arrest could cost ME not the company £15,000. It was like they were trying to scare us into NOT doing our job out of fear of this.


I am determined to do the best job I can do, without risking false arrest claims against me.


Something else you need to realise is that uniformed security roles (which the role in question originally was) is 99% about providing a visual deterrent, to put kids etc... off knicking because they know theres somebody stood at the door who might stop them (if another member of staff is onto them knicking).

Now irish has gone and spoken to the manager of the store about the REAL problems which need addressing and suggested ways he can help. The manager agrees with him and does not seem to want just someone at the door because that has not worked in the past for them, and it seems that the security contractor who is hiring irish sensed he was about to lose irish (a good experienced operator) and possibly lose his contract with the store in question, so he has agreed to do what irish and the manager think best.

[Firebird_2]

Result all round then.. lets hope it pays off and isn't a way to try and get you to just take the job, then do it his way.

[superstacker]

"You are to stay at the front door and make no arrests"

Guy sounds like an ass. Tells me everything I need to know about him and his "security" operation. I know that work is work mate, but I would have been looking elsewhere at that point. If he is going to be like that about the job role, how is he going to be about other issues you might have?

Its all because of money grabbing lawyers mate.

You stop someone you know is knicking, a serial offender, you have SCONE, but at some point they managed to get rid of the item without you seeing (despite your eyes never leaving them, for example the shop might be very busy at the time), so you stop them and they have nothing, then they get in touch with some dirty lawyer who helps them sue you / your company / the shop for false arrest, despite the fact you apologised for the "mistake" etc..

I was told at my company induction that a false arrest could cost ME not the company £15,000. It was like they were trying to scare us into NOT doing our job out of fear of this.

Something else you need to realise is that uniformed security roles (which the role in question originally was) is 99% about providing a visual deterrent, to put kids etc... off knicking because they know theres somebody stood at the door who might stop them (if another member of staff is onto them knicking).

Im well aware of what uniformed security roles do, as that is exactly what I do. For my sins, I am the Assistant Security Manager in a shopping centre.

A false arrest will not cost you a penny, that is why companies have PLI, however I've always told my guys that if they are unsure then they are to observe and report over town link.

Telling people not to make arrests would suggest that the company has no faith in the quality of their staff, or are unwilling to train them to a decent standard. I would not work for a company that told me this.

[Firebird_2]

Telling people not to make arrests would suggest that the company has no faith in the quality of their staff, or are unwilling to train them to a decent standard. I would not work for a company that told me this.

Mate, come to any of my four local shopping centres, supermarkets and department stores and you'd see why.

[superstacker]

Telling people not to make arrests would suggest that the company has no faith in the quality of their staff, or are unwilling to train them to a decent standard. I would not work for a company that told me this.

Mate, come to any of my four local shopping centres, supermarkets and department stores and you'd see why.

Mate I'm well aware of the shortcomings of a lot of retail guards, and security firms that provide them. I do the best I can for the team I work with, and whilst we are not perfect, it's very rare for us to get a complaint.