Julie is a Duty Manager at a shopping centre in Solihull. She holds a door supervision and public space surveillance (CCTV) licence. She won the frontline category at the Women in Security Awards 2023 and was a winner at the ACS Pacesetters Security Officer of Distinction Awards 2024. Julie speaks about her experiences of moving from working in hospitality to private security, and being a woman in what can be a male dominated industry.
Four years ago, I was given the opportunity to join a shopping centre management team. I needed to apply for an SIA front-line licence, as I was a key holder and managing people who perform licensable activities as part of their job. I felt it was important to understand what my front-line security team did so that I could help them more. So I went on a licence-linked training course and got my door supervision licence in 2021.
My role is to make sure that the site is clean and safe, and keep it running smoothly. It’s a long shift of 12 hours. The centre has over 80 stores, 30 hospitality venues and two controlled car parks, hosting everything from big brands to small independents. It attracts a diverse audience of shoppers and diners. Between our stores and the centre team, we are a tight knit community.
Of the 55 or so staff here, about half are SIA licence holders. Many of the stores don’t have their own security, so we provide as much support as we can. We have a shop alert system where a tenant can notify us if there is an incident happening so that we can respond quickly. We could be responding to a first aid request, suspicious behaviour, a disagreement, a missing child or vulnerable person, housekeeping, or even a theft. With tens of thousands of people coming in each day, no day is ever the same.
Before all this I had worked in hotels for three decades. It was a challenge to leave hospitality after 30 years and exchange that for an alien environment, but I’ve transitioned well. I’m a people person, and this role is all about customer service. It’s something that was emphasised in my training. It’s not about being hands on and gung-ho – being physical is the last resort.
You can see that one wrong word can switch a situation from being mellow to being antagonistic. I’m a great believer that most things can be discussed and smoothed over. I observe my officers when they are speaking to people. Afterwards we’ll go over an incident and talk about what can be done better. I learn a lot from watching them, and it also helps me to hone my skills.
We have seen a rise in shoplifting, as the cost of living crisis deepens. We work closely with our retailers and the security team from the local Business Improvement District who deal with the high street. My team can only operate within the centre, so if someone leaves our site, we’ll pass information onto the BID team and vice versa, working together to deter shoplifting and anti-social behaviour. Depending on the severity of the crime, the police could be involved as well. Usually an offender will get a banning order. The retailer can ban someone from their shop and then we will ban them from the centre.
Quite often I’m the only woman on site within the security team working the floor. We have lots of other women in the team, but their roles are varied from the CCTV control room to housekeeping and administration. As such, they are not dealing with the conflict situations that can occur on the floor. Whilst I’m proud to be the only woman, I do think ‘why aren’t there more of us?’ as we have so much to offer in this environment.
I wondered how the guys would take to having a female manager, but I’ve been accepted. I’m quite vocal and perhaps even a force to be reckoned with. They respect me for being one of the first people in, taking my jacket off if something needs cleaning up. Also, the men can sometimes be nervous when dealing with a female member of the public, especially in a first aid situation. My colleagues appreciate me being able to come into an environment like a ladies’ clothes shop and be in a place they would feel less comfortable in.
I’m no spring chicken. I learnt about the SIA later in life. I wish I’d worked in this industry years ago. I love helping people, it gives me such a buzz. We’re here to protect, and secure, but also to help – not just the public but the retail staff as well. I hope to continue in private security until I retire.