Athene Business Service - Retail - Live-Action Security Test

Category: Business Service, Retail

Brief: How good is your security? Do you employ a guard? How alert are your floor staff to potential theft? Retail theft (shoplifting) can and does have a huge impact on business. The Centre for Retail Research estimates that shrinkage from shoplifting runs into the millions each year. Using tried and tested techniques learned and observed from real shoplifters, Athene will test just how much we can get away with from your store.

Rates: Hourly (£12p/h), Daily (£88p/d)
Additional Costs: Possible travel expenses, depending on location.



Full description:

Any manager or business owner should be concerned with shrinkage due to theft from shoplifters. Often a business can run with a small % of expected loss, and usually it only becomes a concern when a stock-take for an end of year accounting session takes place. By that time it is already too late.

You may employ a security guard, and have briefed your floor staff to be on the look out for suspicious behaviour in people visiting your premises. Let us test the level of competency by paying a visit to your workplace and, while undercover as a regular 'Joe Public', attempt to steal using a variety of learned and practiced techniques.

Any goods taken will of course be returned to you once the exercise is complete.

Part of the Athene philosophy is 'know your enemy'. This extends to not only knowing and identifying, but understanding and practicing the very same techniques they employ. Like a stage magician - once you learn the trick, it ceases to fool.

When you book this service, Athene will attack your premises sometime between an agreed time and date. No stock taken will be marked or damaged and all items will be returned to you upon completion.

The attack can and will be undertaken on a variety of levels, using real world practices. You can also tailor the service to meet your exact concerns - aisles, changing rooms, counter-displays, tills etc. can all be focus targeted.

From 'up-the-jacket' simple shoplifting, complete trolley-full 'walkouts', through to advanced fraud, deception, and confidence tricks, Athene knows the enemies tactics. Let us test how well you are currently defended.


Included upon completion will be a full written report on what was taken, when, and how.



Additional notes:

This service is designed to fit alongside other Athene services such as 'Staff Training: Retail', 'Staff Training: Tills', 'Security Inspection', and is best booked as part of a package. Please contact Athene to discuss your needs.

ATHENE USES REAL WORLD PRACTICED AND SUCESSFUL TECHNIQUES DURING THIS EXERCISE. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL THESE TECHNIQUES BE DISCLOSED BEYOND A SIMPLE REPORT.

ATHENE DOES NOT, AND WILL NOT, TEACH OR SHOW ANY PARTIES, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES THESE TECHNIQUES. PLEASE DO NOT EVEN ASK.

Athene Personal Service - Home Security - House Sitting

Category: Personal Services, Home Security

Brief: Whatever the reason for requiring a presence at your home while you are absent or away, Athene can provide a fully vetted, professionally licenced security operative, with a clean background (no criminal record, or CCJ's), stationed in or at your home. Uniformed or plain clothed, and with complete discretion assured.

Rates: Hourly (£12p/h), Daily (£88p/d), Weekly (£350p/w)
Additional Costs: Possible Travel Expenses, depending on location. Overnight rates
                              


Full description:

There are countless reasons why we leave our homes - work, shopping, pick the kids up from school, emergency visits to hospitals/doctors/dentists, loved ones - family and friends - who may have unexpectedly fallen in, or the more pleasant reasons like day trips, visits and holidays.

Perhaps you have workmen in doing renovating. Perhaps there has been a accident like a burst water pipe. Whatever the reason, there always comes that time when you need to be in two places at once - home and elsewhere!

Athene has the solution - your own trusted assistant.

With Athene's 'House Sitting Service' you can hire a fully vetted security operative to either visit your home at a specific time, to undertake a specific task, or stay inside your house for an extended period of time, until completion of a task, or until your return.

Given the sensitive nature of such an assignment you can be sure that all dealings - even enquiries - are dealt with utmost discretion. No details are ever stored anywhere that could be compromised.

All dealings, from emails to telephone calls, to address books are 100% safe and secure, and are exclusive from you to Athene.

When you book this service, every detail is discussed in depth -
     as well as time, date and length, the exact reason you require the service is discussed, also information as to what is classed as  'acceptable' behaviour will be agreed upon. Often this is simply details like is access to a kitchen and rest-room available? Are there potential dangers that we should be aware of (live wires during renovations, loose animals on the premises etc).

You can also tailor the service to your exact needs. If there is no reason for Athene to be in a certain place, you can be assured that Athene will not be there. Privacy is a huge deal, none more so than in dealings like this. Nobody will snoop around where they are not permitted. All dealings are always to the exact letter of detail.

From a one-off 'couple of hours', to 24/7 around the clock, Athene can provide.

Rest assured that everything is above board, safe and secure during your absence.

Follows are a selection of reasons why people choose this service -

To have someone available to collect a parcel or delivery, to have someone supervise workmen, to have 100% peace of mind your property is secure while away on business/trip/day-out/holiday/excursion, to meet a visitor/guest/family member who doesn't have a key or access to a building, to observe illegal/nuisance behaviour (see Athene - Professional Independent Witness service) or even to simply walk the dog!


Additional Notes:
Short notice is available, but it is usually best to book as far in advance as possible.

Under no circumstances ever will Athene partake in any activity that could be classed as dangerous or illegal. Please do not even ask.

While discretion is always given, any activity/items/practices that are deemed illegal under UK law, and are observed during any Athene activity of this sort, must and will be reported immediately to the relevant authorities and the current contract/assignment terminated there and then.

TO MAKE AN ENQUIRY REGARDING THIS, OR ANY OF OUR OTHER SERVICES, PLEASE SEE THE 'CONTACT' SECTION OF OUR WEBSITE OR FOLLOW THIS LINK -

CONTACT ATHENE

Patrolling - Athene 'Standards of Practice'

The Art and Techniques of Good Patrolling



One of the main duties of any Security operative is to carry out a patrol of the area and premises in which they are stationed. This could be a retail environment, a construction site, a public or private premises or any other such location where security is needed.

The principle is the same - show a visual presence, and ensure the area is protected.

 

The trouble is many security operatives do not know how to carry out a good standard patrol.

 

This is due in no small part to the SIA - the organisation that oversees the training and licencing of security personnel. The problem lies with the types of licence and who may carry out what practice.

The current rules allow those with 'Door Supervisor' licences to work in a Security role. But the training for a Door Supervisor does NOT include training on how to carry out a patrol. This training is only included in the 'Security' licence course.   

 

The end result is a lot of security personel with Door Supervisor licences work in security roles whilst lacking the relevant training.

The other problem is those with actual Security licences, which have received patrol training, continue to follow bad practice, through either negligence, lack of understanding, or poor communications through the chain-of-command.

 

Consider the following example - a typical building, which employs one Security Guard. The building has a main entrance (blue door), a rear entrance (purple door), and two fire exits (green doors) located at opposite sides. 



 

The guard's remit (his assignment instructions), state that he must carry out ONE patrol of the building EACH hour.

 

Sure enough, at 5 minutes past the hour, the guard leaves by the main door, and patrols around the building. Shown in the diagram below.

 

At 1005 he leaves and walks to point A.

At 1007 he walks from point A to point B

At 1009 he walks from point B to point C

At 1013 he walks from point C to point D

And at 1015 he walks from D, back into the building.

 

There he sits and reads a paper, until 1105 when he leaves and walks to point A, repeating the patrol.

 

What is wrong with this practice you may be thinking?

The guard successfully completes a patrol, all areas are covered, he undertakes one patrol per hour according to his instructions. Everything is good right?

 

Wrong.

 



Lets introduce a nasty character - a thief, a robber, a vandal, someone intent on doing harm to property or people inside the building.
In the diagram below, our guard is marked by the blue hexagon in the bottom right, and our nasty is marked by the red star, top centre, near the main door.

 

After watching the main door for a couple of hours, what information does our nasty know?

He knows when the guard leaves - at what time, and by which door.

He knows the route the guard will take

He also knows the time the guard takes to walk this route.

 

In essence, he has all the information he needs to carry out his nasty business, safe in the knowledge that the guard is currently walking from point B to point C, as he does every hour at this time, and that he wont be back around to the main doors for another few minutes.

 

This is bad practice, and one that is very common amongst operatives

working in todays Security Industry.

 

 

At Athene Services, we pride ourselves on always delivering top practice.

Always being alert, always thinking on the problem and looking for solutions.

 

The answer to this problem is 'unpredictability' 

Never let the enemy be comfortable in knowing your routine, your time, or your destination.

 

The first step is never start and finish patrols at the same time.

The second, never start and finish patrols from the same location.

 

In the diagram below, we can see that the guard exits from the main door, patrols from A to B to C, then upon reaching the rear door, re-enters the building.

 

This one move completely throws any would-be nasty. Where is the guard?

Has he cut short his patrol? Is he coming back out? From the rear door? Or a different door?

 

In this example the guard exits by the west fire-exit - point E - before moving to F and back into the building.

 

All of the building has still been visually checked, but the routine and timing

was no longer predictable.

 

 

Another good tactic is 'Doubling Back'.

 

In the diagram below, once the guard reaches Point C he then returns to D, and along to E, even though he has already covered this ground once he initially left point A.

 

The lesson here is DO NOT BE PREDICTABLE in either times or locations.

 

Keep them guessing which exit you will appear from. Will you exit, then immediately go back in? When you exit, will you turn left or right?

When you reach a junction or corner, do you proceed around, or double back?

When you reach another entry/exit point, do you take it? Do you take it and take it again (double back through!)?

 



 

Athene is ALWAYS about best practice.

When you hire Athene you get above and beyond.

 

Thanks for reading, and keep safe!

 

Chris

Articles

On this page you can find a number of useful articles, each written by Athene Services, which aim to show Athene's good practice, level of service standards, or useful tips and techniques.

To read any article in full please click on the article's title.


Patrolling - Athene 'Standards of Practice'
An article which shows the art and techniques of a good security patrol. This article includes full colour diagrams, and aims to highlight best practice - and common mistakes to avoid - when carrying out a standard Security Patrol in any environment. 

Contact

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Rates

One of the underlying aspects of Athene is upfront transparency, and when it comes to charging personal or business clients, there should be no 'click to enquire' on prices/rates.

There is nothing to hide. Our competitors, even where they could match on quality, dedication, and insight, could not match on price, given that many work on an outdated administration-heavy model.

Therefore, where able, all services provided by Athene have costs clearly stated on the pages that carry the service description, and all services are based around THREE different pricing models.

 

Where a service would take, or is to be provided on an hourly basis -

the charge is £12 per hour*

 

Where a service would take, or is to be provided on a daily basis -

the charge is £88 per day*

A 'day' is taken as 8-hours, at a discounted rate.

 

Where a service would take, or is to be provided on a weekly basis -

the charge is £350 per week*

A 'week' is taken as 35-hours, at a discounted rate.

* or part thereof. For instance should you book an hourly rate, which is £12, and the service lasts 1 hour and 30 minutes, you will be charged only for the extra 30 minutes, at the £12 rate (which would be £6), and not for an additional full hour.


Additional Costs

Please be aware many of the services on offer by Athene carry additional related costs.
Where these services carry such a cost, all prices will be clearly marked in the description on the service page.

These charges are often out of the control of Athene, and are costs associated with other professional bodies. For instances a Credit Check, or Criminal Record Check, carry additional charges which Athene has no control or influence over. Where applicable such charges will be added to the client bill.

All additional charges will be highlighted and discussed prior, where able, before the undertaking of the service.

Where a service carries an unknown element of cost, for example an undercover investigation may carry travel expenses, and expenses associated with entering a locale (such as a café/bar/restaurant). An allowance, or maximum limit, will be agreed with the client, prior to the assignment beginning.

Services - Personal

Please select the specific service you are interested in, by clicking on the heading below.

Home Security

House Sitting - Hire security vetted and licenced personnel to visit or stay at your home or premises. Use this service for everything from having someone present to collect a delivery, to hiring a 24/7 live-in guard while you are aware on holiday or business. Rates from £12 per hour to £350 a week!