The news coming out of the Autumn SIA Conference at Sheffield last month was very straightforward. The Approved Contractor Scheme (ACS) was here to stay until – and if – The Security Regulation Alliance come up with some acceptable Industry led alternative to the SIA. Our supportive views on the ACS are shown in the November issue of Risk UK, but the message is very clear. The Industry is certainly not yet ready to make the sort of changes it talked about so enthusiastically no less than 12 months ago, and why is that? This Industry has always had a real problem in talking as one voice and if that is the case – and I am pretty sure it still is – then this problem is going to test it like never before!
So let’s accept that The ACS Pacesetters is here to stay. You are a member company of the ACS who has worked really hard to reach a score of +86 or more in your annual inspection and you want to use that excellent result in the market in order to gain more business opportunities. Do it on your own and you may sound like a voice in the wilderness, but look at the ever growing “Hall of Fame” of The ACS Pacesetters which is publicised virtually every month in Risk UK and has its own bespoke website – itself receiving more visits by the week – and you need to ask yourself why are you holding back from joining it. It really is extraordinary value for money.
The ACS Pacesetters deliberately went for the top 15% of the ACS Benchmarking and Achievement Levels as an entry point for membership. We could have gone for the top 2% or 5% or 10%but we wanted to give the client base a real opportunity to be able to select a tender list of contractors – both national and local – who would most likely be able to meet their needs. We also recognised that selecting the right contractor is not just about taking the best ACS score, but will also include a number of other variables, and that is why we were so keen to widen the scope.
The other day we received a call from a well established and respected BSIA company, who was interested to know more about The ACS Pacesetters. The reason for this enquiry was that they had just lost out on winning a good contract and that the client had explained in the debriefthat the differentiator in a tight run race was the fact that the successful contractor had been a member of The ACS Pacesetters. At that moment we knew we had really arrived. You will have to take my word for it that more and more clients are now using “The Hall of Fame” in order to draw up their tender list, and why not? In doing so at least the client knows that ultimately the decision on awarding the contract is certain to go to a contractor with a proven track record and one that has achieved success in a competitive inspection.
Be in no doubt that The ACS Pacesetters will be a differentiator for years to come and we look forward to you joining us.