Women in Security Awards 2017 – A Night of Outstanding Achievements

The glittering black tie event took place on board the Harmony cruise boat of Bateaux London on the River Thames where London’s grand and iconic buildings offered the perfect backdrop for the 120 guests who gathered to celebrate women’s role and contribution in raising standards of security for people, property and assets throughout the UK.

Richard Jenkins, NSI Chief Executive opened the evening with a welcome address and following a formal four course dinner guests were treated to an inspirational speech by Javeria Ayaz Malik, International Security Advisor and Head of the Staff Security Department at ActionAid International. Javeria shared with guests, a significant number of whom were representatives from NSI approved companies, her wealth of experience in coordinating the organisation’s safety and security policy and establishing external relationships with global security networks.

Roy Cooper, publisher of Professional Security Magazine, and Una Riley introduced the awards whose finalists were shortlisted from over 150 nominations. The winners were:

• ‘Technical’ – Samantha Bamford from Pelco by Schneider;
• ‘Contribution to Industry’ – Michelle Bailey from NSI Guarding Gold approved company, Active Response;
• ‘Manager’ – Siobhan Plunkett from GSLS
• ‘Frontline’ – Keeley Watson from NSI Guarding Gold approved company, Wilson James.

L-R Richard Jenkins, Michelle Bailey , Keeley Watson, Samantha Bamford, Siobhan Plunkett, Una Riley and Roy Cooper

Richard Jenkins commented “It was a pleasure to host these awards and see so many people gather to celebrate achievements of women within our industry. The evening was a huge success and we were delighted with the number of nominations received.

“The security sector has a wealth of varied and fulfilling roles, including product development, technical support, managerial and frontline and it’s encouraging to see more and more women choosing careers which have been traditionally male dominated.   I congratulate last night’s winners and finalists on their outstanding achievements and contribution and have no doubt they will help to inspire other women to take forward their careers in the security sector.”