Welcome to the Consortio Security March Newsletter.
I hope you and your families are keeping well as we enter Spring. Brighter days and nights are on the horizon.
The horizon for Consortio Security is also a bright one, as we undergo a fresh and exciting revamp of our social media presence and communication with you. The times are changing, and we are in the midst of a vast modernisation of our online content, which hopes to breathe new life into the Consortio Security brand.
Our aim with these changes is that you, the stakeholder, will have easier access to fundamental yet interesting information about our business, our clients, our employees and the ever-changing sector in which we operate. To fully immerse yourself in the reimagining of Consortio Security, I would certainly recommend following all our social media channels, a reminder of which you will find in this newsletter.
While these changes are a part of the future for our business, of course the present demands continued observance of the ongoing threat of COVID-19. I thank you all for adhering to the guidelines while maintaining a strong work ethic and commitment to ourselves and our clients in the face of adversity.
Simon Mason has been nominated for Employee of the Month by Regional Manager Philip Nicholson following a serious medical emergency on site, with his actions saving an individual’s life. Such serious incidents are very rare (thankfully), however Simon should be extremely proud of his response and actions on the day. He relied on his many years of experience and first aid training to ensure the individual involved was given the best possible chance until emergency services arrived. We commend Simon for his duty that day and Consortio Security are very proud to have you part of the team. Great response, excellent skills shown and a fantastic result in the end. Well done Simon.
South
James Berry – Astor House
James Berry has been nominated for Employee of the Month by Head of Operations Wayne Redman and Site Manager J Gruszka. We received positive feedback regarding James’ handling of an incident on site and the following comments from the site team:
“James is a great credit to your company and always deals with these situations with care and support to our residents”. This is not his first nomination as James consistently performs well on site. Great work.
Both Simon and James will receive a compliment letter from COO Nathan Potter, a special certificate and a shopping voucher. Congratulations!
Employee of the Year
Employee of the Year – 2020 Winners
Every year, I have the privilege of reviewing and awarding our company Employee of the Month and Year awards. All monthly winners are put forward for our Employee of the Year award – the year 2020, which will be remembered for a long time to come, was no different. Similar to the rest of the world, we as a business had to deal with and try to mitigate COVID-19, and it was a challenging year to say the least. You, as our field-based teams, also had to deal with some pretty major incidents on our clients’ sites. It is a testament to you that most incidents were managed in a hugely impressive manner, so a very well done goes to all nominees and to those who were selected but unfortunately didn’t win this year. The winners of the Consortio Security Employee of the Year Awards for 2020 are as follows:
Yousif Ahmed, nominated by Regional Supervisor Robyn-Marie Hooper in August 2020. Yousif came on board recently to assist with the unrest at Foyer and has never let us down. He has been key to repairing the client and residents’ trust and bringing down the anti-social behaviour, very quickly becoming a key member of my team. The nomination is due to his conduct during a shift on 25/08/20. We have been tasked with a number of welfare checks on young people struggling with mental health issues. This particular night, one of the residents failed to respond to a check in. Yousif attended her room and found her unconscious and suffering a seizure in her hallway. While on the phone with me, he remained calm, put the resident into the recovery position and contacted 999. He stayed with her until help arrived and kept her calm and comfortable. She is in a stable condition today and is incredibly grateful for Yousif’s care and attention in what was a scary situation for all involved. He went on from that immediately to assist another resident who had self-harmed. This is not your typical security job and Yousif is pretty awesome. His attention, communication and attitude is a credit to him and to us.
Robyn-Marie Hooper and Luigi Fortunato, nominated by Head of Operations Wayne Redman in July 2020. Both showed resilience and the upmost professionalism whilst dealing with a very serious and challenging incident on site. There were a lot of moving parts within this incident, however both remained calm, maintained a clear line of communication with emergency services and our NCC to ensure the issue was resolved without further incident or injury.
A very well done to them all, all of the winners will receive a glass statue, a certificate, a thank you letter from myself and a voucher to the sum of £125 to spend at whatever outlet they wish.
Nathan Potter
Chief Operating Officer
Officer of Distinction Award
Dear Client, We Need You!
At Consortio Security, we are continually seeking new ways to reward those officers whose efforts extend beyond the expected to delight with their efforts.
One of these ways is the Approved Contractor Scheme (ACS) Pacesetters Security Officer of Distinction Awards 2021, which recognises and rewards those officers who have gone above and beyond in their duties during the past 12 months. Information of the awards can be found by visiting https://www.acspacesetters.co.uk/security-officers-of-distinction/
Naturally, nominations that are supported equally by both the employer and the client have a greater chance of success, and that’s where you come in. We’d welcome your nominations for those officers that you feel have excelled in their performance, going the extra mile to truly amaze you, your teams and your stakeholders.
We don’t need an extensive testimony, just a few bullet points naming the officer and why you feel they should be nominated. We’ll then do the rest.
March sees Consortio Security welcome two fresh faces to the Head Office team!
Rees Jones is our newly appointed Operations Manager for the South West region, and Cameron Chadwick now heads up our Marketing and Social Media content.
We asked them a few quick fire questions each to introduce them to you:
What pastime has kept you going through the past year?
Rees: Exercising has kept me busy!
Cameron: Writing, making cocktails and watching mixed martial arts.
If you could visit one place in the world, where would it be and why?
R: New York around Christmas time – it looks amazing.
C: Las Vegas. I turned 21 last year, need I say more?
What element of your new role at Consortio Security are you most excited about?
R: Meeting clients and new faces around the region.
C: Coming up with interesting new features for this newsletter!
In three words, describe the energy you hope to bring to the team.
We’re offering a £250 reward to any staff member who provides a business lead that results in a contract.
All you need to do is let us know about any site where a competitor provides Security Officers. We’ll do the rest!
Email [email protected] with the details. If a contract is awarded to Consortio Security as a result, you will receive a £250 gross bonus in your monthly wages.
Let’s work together to bring exceptional security services to as many sites as possible.
Comments from Clients
– Operations Manager, PBSA Sector
– Accommodation Manager, PBSA Sector
– Operations Manager, PBSA Sector
Message from the COO
Dear Consortio Colleague,
I’d just like to touch on training and the efforts that go into the entire training platform. We have spent a considerable amount of money and time building a platform that has some excellent and relevant packages. We constantly review and update the packages in line with legislation changes as well as operational changes post-after incident reviews so you will all benefit from undertaking as many of the packages as possible. We have agreed in conjunction with our client base that some packages aligned to the operational requirements of our clients’ sites are contractual, meaning that for you to operate on the site in question you must have completed the agreed packages.
I ask that you all fully understand this and complete all packages in a timely manner. It is far better to have completed the package and not need the training rather than having not completed it and then requiring the training once an incident occurs. All packages are for your benefit and will prepare you for the inevitable, so please complete them accordingly. If you are unsure as to what packages you should be doing or you wish to undertake further training then please contact your relevant Operations Manager.
I want to end by wishing you and your families a safe and healthy 2021. Take care.
This month, we’d like to spotlight Indeed, Glassdoor and Google to get as many of your thoughts as possible.
If you’d recommend working at Consortio Security, we’d appreciate it if you took a minute to drop us a review by clicking one of the links or pictures above.
E-Learning
E-Learning courses range from:
COSHH in the Workplace
Introduction to Health & Safety
Customer Service Level 2
Fire Warden Level 2
Safeguarding and Wellness Training
GDPR – General Data Protection Regulation
Manual Handling
Working at Heights
Accident & Investigation
Counter Terrorism Awareness
Off-job training courses range from:
First Aid 1 & 3 Day
Risk Assessments
COSHH
SIA Security Guarding
SIA Door Supervisor
SIA CCTV Operative
Conflict Resolution
IOSH (via business partner)
The above courses are delivered by our Head of Training, unless otherwise specified. If you require any further information then please contact [email protected]
Health Updates from HR
Dear Consortio Colleague,
As an employer who is committed to their workforce, we regularly send out updates and requests for information.
All staff have been emailed a Health Questionnaire which we require you to complete and return. The reason behind our request is that under our duty of care, we need to be fully aware of any health problems that may impact upon your work and any reasonable adjustments we can make to help you.
Returning the form can be done via email and sent directly to me at [email protected] or by posting to:
Consortio Security Head Office,
6 Boundary Court,
Willow Farm Business Park,
Castle Donington,
DE74 2UD
The envelope should be marked strictly private and confidential and made for my attention. All information received will be handled in accordance with GDPR legislation.
Additionally, can I ask that once you have had a COVID vaccination, either the first or the second, that you email me and provide me with the date that you received it? This is so we can monitor how many of our staff have received the vaccine.
Should you have any questions regarding this matter then please do not hesitate to contact me.
Kind regards,
Mick Stone
Head of HR
Centralus March Campaigns
Fantasy Football: The Consortio Championship
It’s been a while since the last update, but things are hotting up towards the top of the table. Andy Love and Shaun Leach have recently had a ding-dong battle, regularly swapping between top of the league and second place. Could Game Week 27’s point finally have Andy breaking away and cementing the title? Only time will tell.
Amongst the rest, it now appears that it is a battle for the lower places. Martin Eley has recently had a bit of a surge and moved into 3rd place. Part of the Finance team, Elliot Moss and Christine Frost are not far behind Martin, so that should be another interesting battle.
Further down the table, Earl Knight hasn’t been able to continue his excellent start to the season and currently languishes in 15th place. However, he is three places but only 24 points above Nathan Potter. A few wise choices from Nathan could see that situation change. Despite his woeful start to the season, Wayne Redman has managed to get himself up to 19th, only one place behind Nathan, another situation to keep an eye on over the coming weeks.
Another update to follow in the next newsletter…
SIA Qualifications Update
Coronavirus (COVID-19): latest information & advice
Please stay up to date with all the latest guidance and advice via the below:
On the 22nd February, the UK Government unveiled a proposed roadmap for the lifting of current restrictions. It depends on four tests:
The vaccine deployment programme continues successfully
Evidence shows vaccines are sufficiently effective in reducing hospitalisations and deaths in those vaccinated
Infection rates do not risk a surge in hospitalisations which would put unsustainable pressure on the NHS
Our assessments of the risks is not fundamentally changed by new Variants of Concern
If the four tests are satisfied, rules on social contact will change at the earliest as follows:
8th March – people will be allowed to leave home for recreation and exercise outdoors with one person from outside their household.
29th March – outdoor gatherings of either six people or two households will be allowed.
12th April – the opening of non-essential retail, personal care premises, public buildings and indoor leisure facilities.
17th May – most legal restrictions on meeting outdoors will be lifted, although gatherings of over 30 people will remain illegal. Indoors, the rule of six or two households will apply.
21st June – the Government hopes to be in a position to remove all legal limits on social contact.
Taking into account the Government’s latest advice, we are now in a position to share with all our stakeholders our new COVID-19 Health and Safety Risk Assessment and our Controlling the Risks of Infectious Diseases in the Workplace report.
Further to this, we have included a couple of the Government’s working safely documents that we thought relevant to this month’s newsletter and COVID-19 update.
The following advice has been taken from the Gov.UK website:
Symptoms of coronavirus
If you have any of the main symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19), get a test as soon as possible. Stay at home until you get the result.
The main symptoms of coronavirus are:
a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you’ve noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal
Most people with coronavirus have at least one of these symptoms.
If you have any of the main symptoms of coronavirus:
Get a test to check if you have coronavirus as soon as possible. This can be done via the NHS 111 online coronavirus service.
You and anyone you live with should stay at home and not have visitors until you get your test result – only leave your home to have a test.
Anyone in your support bubble should also stay at home if you have been in close contact with them since your symptoms started or during the 48 hours before they started.
We are seeing instances where employees are turning up for work if a partner has shown symptoms or is awaiting a test result. It is important that you do not attend work until a negative test result has been received.
Further guidance can be obtained from your Operations Manager or me.
Please contact Payroll Manager Christine Frost directly if you have any queries related to your payslip. Email at [email protected] or call 08700123999 option 6. Do not call Centralus as they are just the online platform that we save your payslips on – they have no knowledge of your hours, holidays or wages.
Payslips
You will need to register to Centralus in order to access your payslips online.
Should you experience any issues with registering or logging into your account, please contact Centralus. Click here for more details.
Pay Dates
To provide all stakeholders with a greater understanding of the Consortio Security employee payment cycle for the forthcoming tax year, we have provided a schedule below with further guidance that will hopefully assist going forward.
Contractually, officer wages need to be in their accounts by close of business on the 15th of each month. Where the 15th of the month falls on a weekend, we will ensure that funds are available on the last working day before the 15th, again by close of business.
15th March 2021
15th April 2021
14th May 2021
15th June 2021
15th July 2021
13th August 2021
15th September 2021
15th October 2021
15th November 2021
15th December 2021
Pension queries
For all pension queries please contact Mr Martin Bonnar – Pensions Manager at Centralus on 07864 651 448 or 0800 211 8109. Alternatively, email him at [email protected]
On or just before your first payday, please register on www.consortiosecurity.ibenefit.uk.com to view all of your payslips and pension contributions.
Message from HR
We are being made aware of changes in individuals’ personal circumstances after the event.
As an employer, we pride ourselves on the assistance and help we can afford to our employees, but this is very difficult to do if we are not aware of the problem. If there is a change in your circumstances that you feel the company may need to be made aware of then please either call our Head of Human Resources Mick Stone on 07771 532904 or email him at [email protected]
If we are informed about issues then we can put things in place or offer reasonable adjustments to help as much as we can.
Holiday Booking
As you are aware, we are currently going through unprecedented times, with travel restrictions changing on a daily basis. If you are applying for holiday in future and are planning on travelling abroad can you please, when submitting the holiday application, make your Operations Manager aware of where you are travelling to.
Your help in this matter is greatly appreciated.
Should you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Kind regards,
Mick Stone
Head of HR
Vacancies
If you know anyone who may be interested in a job, please let them know and ask them to apply through Indeed or email their CV to the HR Department
Whistleblowing Hotline
The number for the Whistleblowing Hotline has changed to 07891 444888.
The purpose of the hotline is to provide a safe and confidential way for employees and other stakeholders to make reports about serious concerns they may have about wrongdoing in the workplace. It ensures that reported concerns are passed directly and unedited to nominated managers. You can either call the hotline number or send a text message to raise any concerns.
Should anyone require any further clarification then please contact me, Mr Mick Stone, Head of Human Resources via email [email protected]
Near Miss Reporting
Near Misses
In keeping with our continual promotion of health & safety, this month we’re again reminding everyone about the importance of near miss reporting.
Each site already has specially printed report cards to encourage easy reporting of near misses and help achieve our goal of being incident and injury free.
However, please feel free to report near misses in any way you can – verbal or email reports to your Operations Manager or our Control Centre are perfectly acceptable.
It’s important that you understand the following:
We will support any employee reporting a near miss; if a task is stopped for a safety reason, we will back the employee.
We will listen and act; any safety concern that is reported will be addressed promptly.
We will not point the finger; if there is an injury, we will conduct an incident investigation in such a way that no-one is blamed. We need to learn so that we can prevent future injuries.
We will allow time to do jobs safely; we will remove any barriers to employees being successful in safety.
You can print your own card by clicking here or report via our website
