Paul Howe is the Managing Director at Venture Security based in Andover, Hampshire
What are your company’s main business activities?
Venture Security is an independent security company based in Andover that serves more than 400 customer sites across the central southern region. We offer a comprehensive range of security services, our most popular being mobile patrols, static guarding, and key holding and alarm response. Our teams are also active in town and city centres across the region, helping tackle anti-social behaviour in partnership with local Business Improvement Districts and local authorities. While our event security team support events team and venues, including Stonehenge, the Roman Baths and both Salisbury and Newbury Racecourses. We also recently launched our remote video surveillance monitoring service, based out of our purpose-built Security Operations Centre – VSOC.
What emerging technologies do you see shaping the future of the industry, and how is your company adapting to stay ahead?
Since Venture Security was founded back in 2006, we have seen the industry undergo some major transformations. Nowhere is this more evident than in relation to the use of technology. In particular, its capabilities behind the scenes, to aid transparency, monitor and predict trends, and drive quality standards and efficiencies.
As a company, we are committed to continually raising the bar for our customers and investing in technology and processes that will support us in doing so. For example, we introduced the Halo (v5) platform, which enabled us to take our event security services to another level. We were also the first security company in the region to offer fully digital, cutting-edge security management for our mobile and static security customers, using V-SECURE.
Security technology is advancing at pace and I’m genuinely excited to see where it is headed, especially in the area of AI and intuitive tech. From crime detection and prediction, through to preventative security measures and analytics, there are some key areas where this type of technology is already coming into its own. We will continue to look for ways to capitalise on it and other new technologies, for the benefit of our customers and staff.
In what ways does NSI Certification differentiate your company from competitors and enhance your credibility within the industry?
We’re very proud that Venture has received the Guarding Gold certification, the highest possible accreditation, from the National Security Inspectorate (NSI), firmly positioning the company as a leader in its sector. As a universally recognised standard of excellence within our industry, it illustrates the high standards we always strive to achieve, setting us apart from the competition.
In your opinion, what is the most common misconception or myth about the security industry?
Sadly, the security industry is still strongly stereotyped. Firstly, it is viewed as a man’s world. That’s a narrative which we hear every day. While some progress has been made in the last decade, we’ve a long way to go as an industry. Which is why we’re very proud to have a growing number of female security professionals at Venture, working across all areas of the business, who are challenging those stereotypes every day. There is huge value in having a range of different perspective on all matters.
Another common stereotype is that of the daft security guard, which has been promoted by the film and TV industries. So often, security officers are misconstrued as stupid, which is often far from the case. We employ many really professional officers, who are completely dedicated to their roles and make us very proud every day.
Read the full interview in the January 2025 edition of PSi magazine
