Security breaches can happen at any time during the early hours of the morning or late at night. You simply may not have the personnel to be able to respond to these threats around the clock, and would not be prepared to let a member of your staff or for yourself to attend what could be a potentially dangerous situation.
By leaving the responsibility with Clearway, a trusted security partner for countless businesses throughout the UK, to provide a fully accredited, SIA approved keyholding and emergency response service, you can rest assured that should an intruder alarm be triggered, our trained security officers will respond and, if necessary, a mobile patrol unit will attend your premises to investigate the cause of the alarm.
Almost all UK businesses with physical premises will have some kind of intruder alarm installed, as this is often a minimum requirement of risk assessments, insurances and security policies. However, managing the responses to alarm activations can pose significant cost and time pressures, as well as the safety considerations, should an alarm be triggered by an intruder.
Many alarm activations prove to be false or non-critical. Reasons include power surges, insects, and sensor errors – however, every activation must be treated as an intrusion to protect your premises and assets.
The Clearway team provides a comprehensive keyholding service to offer a cost-effective, reliable, and secure solution to manage every alarm activation, and initiate the appropriate security response.
Business costs and issues include:
Whenever an alarm is activated or accredited, SIA trained alarm response will be on hand to assess the cause, elicit a response and secure your premises, minimising costly damages to your property and reducing theft.
This service includes:
Not only does a professional keyholding service provide much-needed support to avoid staff responding unnecessarily to early-hours alarm activations, but also ensures that, if an intruder has activated a security alarm, your personnel are not put at risk.
We understand that each premise is unique, so your security strategy will be tailored to your key risks and areas critical to your business.
Therefore, before advising on the right keyholding services for you, we conduct a comprehensive risk assessment process and a site visit to make tailored recommendations.
Alongside keyholding services, the Clearway team offers a range of business security options, each of which can be blended and adapted to meet your needs.
Popular options to complement your keyholding service include:
The Clearway team works with a vast range of UK businesses and private facility managers, from large-scale construction sites to multi-site retailers.
Alarm responses can make or break your business, so it is essential to have a professional team on hand to deal with any potential intruders or thefts, ensuring a rapid response and emergency services liaison wherever required.
While removing the costs and time impact of dealing with false alarm activations in the early hours, our keyholding service also offers peace of mind that trained personnel are poised to respond to every activation, and ensure the right actions are taken to secure your property.
A keyholding service is provided by a trained, qualified security professional who retains a set of keys and other entry requirements, such as alarm codes or a security pass and takes responsibility for responding to alerts, break-in alarms or potential security problems.
The keyholder may either monitor your premises overnight as part of a mobile patrol service or liaise with your alarm monitoring provider to ensure they are notified immediately when there are possible issues, such as the activation of a motion sensor or a false alarm call-out.
Using a keyholding service protects you and your staff, ensuring that you do not need to respond to active criminal intrusions and are not exposed to the potential risk when attending your premise, often overnight, alone, and without any security training or backup.
Implementing keyholding can also be valuable for businesses and homeowners with elevated risk factors, and where alarms are attended by uniformed security personnel, this may reduce the likelihood of becoming a victim of an attempted crime while also reducing your insurance premiums.
Security services are a professional risk-mitigation measure, and guards or responders working on the front line hold formal Security Industry Authority (SIA) licences that verify they have the appropriate knowledge, skills and training.
There are two types of security licences within the UK, called front-line and non-front-line licences. Keyholding is a front-line service because it is a security service that involves having access to entrance protocols, such as devices that open security locks, sets of keys, or an entry pass.
Manned guarding and keyholding are licensed roles, whereas non-front-line SIA licensees normally work in positions such as managing a team where other colleagues perform licensed activities or supervising a licensed security responder.
Any security professional performing licensed activities will have a photocard ID which they can present to confirm their credentials, although, in convert scenarios, their licence may not be publicly visible.
The duties of your keyholder may vary according to your requirements, risk assessments, and the nature of your property, facility, or compound. For example, your keyholding protocols might include:
Keyholders can be either remote or on-site, but their primary role is to safeguard the integrity of the premise and act as the first point of contact if any alarms, alerts or security infrastructure indicates a possible intrusion or other unauthorised access.
Clearway’s NSI gold-accredited Alarm Receiving Centre is a full-service remote CCTV monitoring facility where trained responders monitor all alarm activations, review the cause of an alert, and deploy security teams as appropriate.
Alternatively, they may liaise with on-site security personnel or the emergency services, depending on the nature of the threat and whether they have been able to identify the trigger.
Using a gold-standard monitoring service means that you have the assurance that all staff are appropriately screened and have the knowledge and training to adhere to strict security protocols.
Our ARC is operational 24/7, 365 days a year, as an always-on service with cutting-edge technology that can identify instantly when an alarm or sensor is activated, including fire safety systems, and determine the correct approach to either resolve, address or verify that the issue is not an emergency.
The National Security Inspectorate (NSI) is the UK regulator that inspects security providers and other services such as fire safety, independently auditing and evaluating the quality controls, standards, efficiency, and customer support provided.
The gold accreditation is the highest possible award and is recognised as a quality mark that indicates excellent standards and compliance with all relevant regulations and legislation. The audit process includes the following:
Inspections are repeated, so once a monitoring service has passed the rigorous benchmarks to be accredited as meeting the gold standard, they must maintain those same high-quality levels of service delivery, customer support and technical proficiency to retain their status.
Call 0800 085 8695 or email us at enquiries@clearway.co.uk