The Approved Contractor Scheme (ACS) is a voluntary programme developed by the SIA, designed to establish baseline performance standards in delivering outsourced security services. Just over 2,500 companies (minimum five employees) currently operate in the UK’s private security industry. Approximately 750 of these are assessed as part of the SIA ACS.
Recently, and for the second year running, we were audited by our partners, the National Security Inspectorate (NSI).
ACS companies can score a maximum of 145, with zero being scored as a satisfactory level of accreditation. Only companies that meet these standards — and continue to meet them when annually audited — are permitted to advertise their membership of ACS.
This year, our ACS audit included the following:
- A review of our financial, resource planning and customer relationship management procedures
- Our compliance with the IR35 agency worker legislation and key control procedures, including adherence to BS 7858
- A full service-delivery review, including several site visits incorporating client and employee interviews
- An assessment of our company leadership and management processes
After our audit, we obtained a score of 123 — an improvement of one point on our last audit, continuing a run of annual score improvements since 2010.
We want to thank the NSI and their assigned auditor, Natalie Ginn, for facilitating a comprehensive and constructive audit experience.
A huge thanks and congratulations to all of our colleagues for their support with the audit and for their ongoing focus on continuous improvement. This audit score is testimony to our team’s efforts during the last year, and we couldn’t be prouder of this remarkable collective achievement.