Chartered status: The gold standard for security

Chartered status sorts the wheat from the chaff, says Dave Neal

Accountants, surveyors and engineers all need chartered status to sell their services. You wouldn’t dream of commissioning advice from professionals like these without knowing that they had the proper qualifications – or a seal of approval from a reputable organisation.

But, for a long time, the security sector has been different. Even though security professionals play a vital, trusted role in the lives of many HNWs and their families, they have historically been hired on the basis of word-of-mouth recommendations – and not much else. That’s beginning to change, however.

This piece first appeared in the Spear’s 500 2021. Click here to access the new Spear’s 500 website

Since 2011, the gold standard for the security sector in the UK and internationally has been the achievement of chartered status. Those who achieve this status become chartered security professionals and have the right to use the post-nominals CSyP.

The letters represent the highest standards in the security industry and can only be earned by someone who has at least five years’ experience of operating at the level required to attain chartered status. Candidates must pass background checks and go through a rigorous selections and vetting process which culminates in an interview with a panel.

This piece first appeared in the Spear’s 500 2021. Click here to access the new Spear’s 500 website

There are only 200 chartered security professionals (or ‘CSyPs’) on the register, indicating how rigorous the selection process is. Those who have made the grade must adhere to a strict code of conduct, a professional disciplinary code and programme of continuous professional development that is reviewed annually to ensure it is relevant, current and equips the CSyPs to deal with the constantly evolving threats their clients face. Having left the army in 2019 as a brigadier and head of the Royal Military Police, I’m proud to say that I am now a CSyP.

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This piece first appeared in the Spear’s 500 2021. Click here to access the new Spear’s 500 website

Uniquely in the private sector, chartered security professionals have access to intelligence and classified threat material from the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI), the physical security arm of M15. The CPNI makes advice available to those with the CSyP qualifications allowing this to be routinely incorporated into threat assessments and analysis of risk.

The existence of chartered status provides an objective measure of experience and competency – and the assurance that you are hiring someone at the top of their profession.

Dave Neal CSyP is a strategic security adviser at Blackstone Consultancy