Page 6 - SyI-Annual-Report

Chief Executive’s Address
At the Annual General Meeting (AGM) in April 2019, I was able to report that we had invested in a mentoring
platform and a professional development platform, enhancing two crucial aspects of membership available to
assist each member progress in their careers. This year, we have seen prolific use of these platforms and every
engagement has made someone a little wiser and more confident (see pages 16 and 17). All it takes is 100
improvements of 1% to open up a much wider range of opportunities.

It has always been the Security Institute’s strategic aim to recognise excellence and share best practice; to
give respect to those that pledge to develop themselves and help their peers develop at the same time. Such
respect is gained through validation and acceptance into membership, and resulting in post-nominals that are
recognised and endorsed by Government, not simply made up and given away. In our members, the security
sector can rely on individuals who can be deemed professional, not simply because they claim to be, but
because their peer network recognises and reinforces their credentials. #RecognisedRespectedProfessional is
our a strapline, which does what it says on the tin.

Security cannot yet be said to be a fully-fledged profession because we do not have a professional council.
That may seem controversial but consider this: no-one in a security consultancy role can be prevented from
giving advice. There are many security consultants giving bad advice because they are out of date and do not
maintain professional development. If their advice results in a threat being realised because the advice was
inappropriate, who holds them to account? No-one. Thankfully, there are many more that are performing to the
highest levels of professional competence than not. These are the members of the Security Institute.

We operate as a not-for-profit organisation, with no shareholders. We are not a lifestyle business and we
spend all of our surplus funds on improving the value of our membership. Our successes are a direct result of
volunteers giving their time for free, for the betterment of others. It’s simple and I am inspired by this every day.

All of the above has resulted in an exponential increase in both the recruitment of new members and the
retention of existing members. You will see a graphic illustration of this increase later in the report (p.8). The
biggest impacts are predominantly due to two aspects of recruitment. Membership referrals are the best
endorsement of our value for money: members convincing others to join. Can there be a better example of
legitimacy?

The second is significant endorsement by Government. Since 2017, we have established close working
relationships and group memberships with a succession of central government departments, beginning
with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Civil Aviation Authority, Ministry of Defence, HM Revenue and
Customs, Department for Work and Pensions and, more recently, engaging directly with the Cabinet Office as

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