Showsec
Encyclopedia
Showsec is a United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 based supplier of crowd management and security services. It is part of the International Crowd Management and Security Group, with its sister organisation, The Security Company, being based in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

.

Company profile

Showsec in the UK operates out of eleven regional offices, with its head office being based in Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...

. With over 3,500 members of staff currently on its books, Showsec is the largest supplier of crowd management solutions in Europe. Recently, Showsec has been a major supplier of staff to large scale events such as Download Festival
Download Festival
The Download Festival is a three day rock music festival held annually at Donington Park, England . It usually takes place in June...

, Creamfields
Creamfields
Creamfelds is a large dance music festival featuring DJs and live acts. It is held annually on the August Bank Holiday weekend in Daresbury, Cheshire, England, just outside of Liverpool where it had previously been held for a number of years. It is renowned for being headlined every year by the...

, and Hyde Park
Hyde Park, London
Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, United Kingdom, and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...

.

The company's main activity is that of venue crowd management. With contracts throughout the UK at venues such as Earls Court Exhibition Centre
Earls Court Exhibition Centre
The Earls Court Exhibition Centre is an exhibition centre, conference and event venue located in west London, United Kingdom in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea . It is the largest exhibition venue in central London. It is served by two underground stations, Earl's Court and West...

, the Manchester Evening News Arena
Manchester Evening News Arena
The Manchester Evening News Arena is an indoor arena situated in Manchester, England. It is adjacent to Manchester Victoria station near Corporation Street...

 and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

's Roundhouse
Roundhouse
A roundhouse is a building used by railroads for servicing locomotives. Roundhouses are large, circular or semicircular structures that were traditionally located surrounding or adjacent to turntables...

, Showsec hold a considerable share of the market.

The current managing director is Mark Harding, who began working for Showsec in 1989 and became the MD in 2001. He is supported by a 60 strong team of full time administrative staff based at Showsec's headquarters and regional offices, as well as over 250 supervisors and a strong team of experienced managers.

The company is committed to training its staff, with a dedicated training centre headed by Keith Hackett & Roy Wise.
All staff are trained to receive level 2 training in a modular format in stewarding upon joining the company, and experienced staff can undertake further training, such as pit and supervisor training.

In March 2008, the Showsec Management Development Program (MDP) was launched, with the aim of training new junior managers. Upon successful completion of the training programme, candidates are offered permanent, full-time junior management positions within the company.

Showsec was recently involved in the controversial Body Worlds
Body Worlds
Body Worlds is a traveling exhibition of preserved human bodies and body parts that are prepared using a technique called plastination to reveal inner anatomical structures...

 4 exhibition in Manchester by anatomist Dr Gunther von Hagens
Gunther von Hagens
Gunther von Hagens is a controversial German anatomist who invented the technique for preserving biological tissue specimens called plastination.-Early life:...

where they supplied security solutions for the entirety of the exhibit.

As of 01/10/10 Showsec,as part of its expansion into Scotland has taken over responsibility for two Glasgow Concert Venues/Night Clubs:The O2 ABC and The O2 Academy having beaten previous security suppliers G4S for the contract.
Given the abundance of Scotland based Security Suppliers this is unlikely to be welcome competition.

Criticism

Showsec have come under fire in the past from event and festival goers for being too heavy handed in their tasks. The managing director, Mark Harding, responded to these allegations by giving an interview to the Safe Concerts website.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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