Thurleigh Airfield Business Park is a thriving and established business destination for the automotive, communications and logistics industries.
Located only six miles north of Bedford, the former Thurleigh Airfield is home to over 20 businesses and is a major source of employment, with over 500 people employed on site. The Business Park offers open storage, warehouse and industrial space alongside excellent access via the A6 for logistics businesses across Bedfordshire and the UK.
Tell us how many years have you been with the Company and what drew you to the security sector?
I have been with Guardforce Security for about two and a half years. And what drew me to the security sector was I wanted to join the police force, so after a few failed attempts I thought the next best thing was to become a security officer.
What is your background and how do you feel in the security field?
I started off in security on a building site for a few months doing gatehouse and patrols. From there, I was offered a job on a car storage compound doing gatehouse and patrols. Next, I was offered a job at the John Lewis warehouse in Milton Keynes then from there I was offered this job with Guardforce. As I was working within these jobs I have done a few extras like door work and festival work such as “T in the park” in Scotland and the “Victorian Festival” in Bedford. I feel extremely happy and proud to be working in the security field knowing that I am making a difference to crime and safety on site.
Which part of your job you enjoy most?
The part of my job that I most enjoy would definitely be helping visitors with anything they want, helping my client out with any security issues and of course! representing Guardforce and St. Modwen.
What type of incidents have you had and how you managed to deal with them?
During my time with Guardforce at Thurleigh Airfield Business Park, I have had to deal with a number of different incidents including people trespassing to take photos of the old control tower we have on site, and I have even had to deal the attempted thefts of cars. Although the one incident that stands out from the rest only happened just a few months ago now: about 2am a group of 5 or 6 males cut the fence and ran up the runway to where we keep the storage cars in an attempted to steal some tyres. I discovered the cut in the fence very quickly and managed to track them down. As soon as they saw me they started to run in every direction but I gave pursuit to one intruder and managed to apprehend and detain him until the police turned up and arrested him.
What is the biggest challenge you face every day as a Security Officer?
The biggest challenge I face every day as a security officer… to be honest! Every day is different and so are the challenges… but some of the biggest challenges I have had to face are the aftermath of an incident, talking to all the different managers who the incident affects, when they are throwing 100 questions my way like: who, what, where, when and why? and having to do that a 3 or 4 times a day… Well, that can become a challenge.
What is your life motto and future goals?
My life motto is “success is the best revenge”. It means if you fail keep trying until you win, don’t give up! My future work goals, one day I would like to become some form of manager within the security sector, someone who still works on sites but also works very closely to the office and even being the first point of contact for a few different sites. my personal goal, this has very recently changed, I have just found out that my wife is expecting our first baby so my goal is to work as hard as humanly possible to insure my son has the best start to life… who knows, he maybe a future security officer.
