Priti meets up with leading Witham based national event security firm

Priti Patel, the MP for Witham, has had a meeting with Martin Jackson, Head of Operations and Mike Jackson Managing Director of McKenzie Arnold Group, at their offices in Faulkbourne, Essex. McKenzie Arnold are nationwide specialists in providing security, crowd management and stewarding for the events industry.

The three met on Tuesday 16th August to discuss the key issues affecting the security business. One of the main topics of conversation was local government contracts and the difficulties smaller businesses face in trying to win such work when up against companies deemed to be larger and more experienced, by virtue of the size of their turnover.

McKenzie Arnold is a leading light in the industry having been responsible for the security at major events such as the Notting Hill Carnival for nearly ten years, motor racing events at Brands Hatch, Donington Park and Snetterton as well as providing crowd management for Westfield Stratford City, Europe’s largest urban shopping and leisure centre, attracting more than 47 million visitors a year.

During their discussions, it was agreed that more needs to be done to recognise the talent and capability available in smaller businesses, to ensure that they are able to compete fairly for governmental security contracts.

Commenting after the meeting, Priti said: “I will be looking into the process for tendering for governmental contracts relating to the events industry. McKenzie Arnold are first class providers in the business of event security and it is only right that their extensive experience and skills should be recognised in the tender process.”

Martin Jackson, McKenzie Arnold’s Head of Operations said: “It was a great pleasure to have Priti here for a full discussion of the key issues affecting our business. It was a very useful and productive conversation which demonstrated that she understands our sector and the difficulties we face.”

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