“Having a trusted partner to provide competent security support saves time and effort spent trying to find cover.” – Dale Weatherson, former Senior Regional Loss Prevention Manager, Next
The challenge
Next operate their own in-house Loss Prevention department, which tackles loss prevention across the business. With an impressive 550 store portfolio nationwide, the demands on this team are significant.
Known challenges in the security industry have decimated guarding resource in the UK, making it very difficult to source trained personnel at scale. Because of this, Next were struggling to fill several long-term vacancies across their guarding workforce; positions that are critical to not only preventing stock loss and rising criminality but also in keeping customers and employees safe.
Next needed temporary guarding support they could lean on to fill this shortfall of in-house security guards and provide urgent placement of officers in areas experiencing increases in criminality.
The solution
The Keyholding Company (TKC) have enjoyed a successful direct partnership with Next since 2016, providing a variety of essential security services from alarm response to mobile patrols.
TKC were perfectly set up to step in and help. With an unrivalled network of 200 security partners and access to 11,000 security officers nationwide, they could rapidly provide Next with SIA-licensed security guards at short notice, ready to work temporarily at stores in specific locations suffering from vacancies or in urgent need of extra security.
Starting with a trial period at stores in Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool, TKC worked hand in hand with Next to make sure they had the right people for the job. With quality security guards being a top priority, TKC ensured they were fully briefed before arrival, clearly communicating arrival time, uniform requirements, and what tasks they needed to perform. This then expanded to supporting stores in Sheffield and Lincoln, as well as several Victoria’s Secret stores.
The results
Due to the overwhelming success of this trial period, TKC has become one of Next’s preferred suppliers for emergency and temporary guarding.
This strength in partnership was proven a second time when an increase in absence during the festive period meant extra guarding support was urgently needed. TKC again ensured Next had the right resource in place to secure their most high-profile and high-risk stores across 60 locations nationwide, including one of their top 10 performing stores in the country.
The Keyholding Company have proven on multiple occasions to be a consistent, reliable source for quality temporary or emergency security guards. Having a trusted partner to provide competent security support when we need it most saves time and effort spent trying to find cover. I highly recommend them to anyone looking for additional support.
Dale Weatherson, former Senior Regional Loss Prevention Manager, Next
Having access to this pool of talent gives Next peace of mind that they have a reliable partner waiting in the wings to help them find cover when they need it most.
The key to this is TKC’s technology, which removes the stress of finding last-minute cover by allowing you to book and manage guarding shifts online and connecting you instantly to a network of 11,000 SIA-licensed officers. Here are three ways technology can ease your guarding headaches.
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