From globally iconic fashion shows to industry-defining tradeshows, at the beating heart of our venue is the Olympia Events security team, creating safe and sensational experiences, all year round. Through the eyes of our Security and Traffic Logistics Manager, Paul Field, we explore his role at Olympia Events, the impact of technological development, how we remain at the forefront of security, and the future of event security.
To kick things off, why don’t you tell us about your role at Olympia Events, and what led you to pursue a career in this ‘field’?
As the Security and Traffic Logistics Manager, I oversee the day-to-day security operations at Olympia Events, including the security control room and managing the event traffic and car park operations. I joined the company back in 2003 as a Customer Services Manager, managing the booking services, but I’ve been in my current position for the last nine years. From the very beginning, I had a passion for security, and this has only grown more over time. I see my future here for a very long time to come.
After being a part of our team for over 20 years now, what do you love the most about working for Olympia Events?
I love how diverse our culture is, and the fact that no one day is ever the same. You can come in one day for a trade show, and then the very next day it has been transformed for the likes of London Film and Comic Con! I also love the team I work with. At Olympia Events in general, there's a real sense of family and looking out for each other.
Are you a part of any working groups, and what have you learnt from our sister venues?
So, I sit on the AEV (Association of Event Venues) board, and the NAA (National Arena Association) security working groups. We exchange best practices and discuss the most prominent security threats, for example, potential protestors, and varying attack-type methods. We also have opportunities to speak with various specialist speakers and gain advice from them and government security agencies.
Our owners, ASM Global, who manage arenas globally, have a wealth of experience in security-related policies and procedures. As well as adopting some of their operational planning processes, we also use their counter-terror risk assessment toolkit, which covers threat levels, crowd safety and protest risk, which is used across all our events.
How would you summarise the importance of event security, and how is this continuing to grow?
Security in events is critical, as it is in any other public place, business, or even in your personal life. Even though we are front-facing, it’s important to reinforce that it’s not just the importance of the security teams, everyone must carry that responsibility.
Olympia Events is an iconic venue in the heart of West London, attracting a large number of visitors every year, and so, like many other venues, we are a potential target. We are a designated publicly accessible location and as such, we've got our own designated Olympia Events counter-terror security advisor, which is assigned by the police, so it’s constantly on our radar.
The Olympia Events Traffic and Control was recently awarded ‘Venue Team of the Year’ at the AEO Awards 2024. How are you continuing to support and nurture the team's progression and systems in place?
The first thing I would like to say is, our team is fantastic. They’re extremely hard-working, dedicated, passionate, and resilient, and they have a lot of experience which we’re very blessed with. My team adopts a higher level of learning, which involves tabletop training scenarios every year, and the security control room also goes through lots of individual skill-based training on a shift basis. This includes how to deal with a hostile marauding attack for example, where they’re drilled on tracking somebody on camera, putting out an emergency PA message and liaising with the police.
As a venue, what are we doing to be at the forefront of security?
As we look ahead to our future and being a part of the Olympia Destination, we’re in the process of designing the venue as part of the secure-by-design process. This involves assessing what the new venue is, where the vulnerabilities may lie and building in controls around that. However, for now, we’re continuously introducing and implementing new procedures. We have Olympia Events explosive and drug detection dogs, we can enhance front-of-house search regimes with wanding, and x-ray machines and we can also conduct high-level vehicle searches.
Lastly, the security landscape has witnessed massive technological development in recent years. How have you seen technology evolve, and what are we introducing to our procedures?
As we see the rise in technology, we are constantly on the lookout for new innovations and advancing our systems venue-wide. Technology such as CCTV systems have come on leaps and bounds, both with the quality of the camera and the functionality controlling them. AI and integrated software are also evolving, which we are hoping to invest more in.
To ensure we have the necessary procedures in place for our venue now and for the future, a focus for us at the moment is high footfall screening. This will aid us in searching mass crowds to identify potential threats that people are bringing in with them, for example, IDEDs, knives or firearms. For this transition period, we need to be constantly assessing this for the future, so as the new estate comes online, we’re in the most secure position we can be.