Export Award to Selectamark’s Chairman Jim Brown
In July Jim Harrower, Chairman of the British Security Industry Association (BSIA) presented Jim Brown with the 2004 Exports award in recognition of the many thousands of miles Jim has travelled in promoting UK business.
The Selectamark story
In 1985 Jim Brown saw the potential of marking property so that legal owners could easily be identified if goods were stolen. Experiments in a chemistry lab resulted in a marking system which was more permanent than the ultra violet markers used by police forces, and a visible deterrent to thieves.
Stencils are used on a dot matrix principle to mark property, typically with a postcode and house number or owner’s name. A telephone number can give access to a database register of owners.
Cycle marking
A pilot scheme at Halford’s in Chichester proved the benefits of immediately tracing owners, and the system went national.
Selectamark now operates the successful bike register database at http://www.bikeregister.com with full co-operation from cycle manufacturers, cyclists’ groups and insurance companies.
From bike theft to burglary prevention
Local initiatives in Nottingham, Darlington and Durham combatted domestic burglaries, which dramatically fell when the local “fence” refused to accept Selectamark-treated property!
A microwave oven was identified in Liverpool even before a distant Health Authority had known that it had been stolen!
Support from insurance and hire purchase businesses
Hire purchase companies and insurance firms soon saw the benefits to their own business of reducing thefts. They started to encourage their customers to use the scheme.
First moves abroad
A multi-national oil company started to use Selectamark, initially to mark their furniture and equipment prior to a major office relocation, and later to identify their assets worldwide. Schools from Harrow to Texas now use Selectamark products.
Jim Brown travelled to Hong Kong and adapted the system to cope with Chinese characters which was then featured in a special demonstration room in police headquarters.
Worldwide success has resulted in our company from Locks Bottom in Kent distributing millions of stencils annually.
Chips with everything!
A partnership with Finnish company Idesco resulted in Selectamark marketing the very first read/write transponders, which has now led to their association with Tiris/Texas Instruments that has resulted in all British caravans and motor caravans being fitted with inert transponder chips which can be read electronically by a hand-held reader, a system now also being used to protect boats.
E-plate is more sophisticated. An electronic transmitter chip is built into vehicle registration plates whose signals are read by receivers regardless of whether the number plate is within line of sight. Authorities can thereby achieve effective access control and log the movements of individual vehicles or cargo containers, with vast potential for improving security.
Transport Security
The chips in small boats can link to “intelligent” CCTV surveillance systems and produce an effective security environment, often without the need to increase security personnel. This has become even more relevant since the emphasis on preventing terrorist attacks on ships and ports by small boats.
Selectamark Consultancy has become heavily involved in training on maritime security, and advises on technology to identify the boats and vehicles which are regular, known and secure users of a port. We work with YG Consultants and have developed Government-approved training courses for ships and ports to comply with the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code.
Superior biometric pass systems
The Australian Base2 is the basis of the Sentry system which reads fingerprints and creates an effective biometric check on the identity of a pass holder. Unlike some biometric systems, Sentry searches its database for the same person who might have a second identity, and for terrorist suspects. It can even link to voice control security systems.
Sentry is in use in Australian prisons, and has been successfully used in a high security UK prison. A number of countries are likely to consider Sentry as the basis for their national identity cards.
Leadership in breadth and depth
Selectamark’s success can partly be attributed to:
¨ keeping up with the latest technology, and
¨ maintaining strategic involvement with industry, police and government partnerships.
The Selectamark Consultancy, led by Dai Davies, a former Scotland Yard officer with experience of providing security for the Royal Family, helps to develop the company’s position in promoting the quality of UK security expertise on a world-wide basis. Our expertise includes:
¨ Maritime security
¨ Fraud prevention
¨ Computer and IT security
¨ Bomb blast protection
¨ Crisis Management
¨ Protected vehicles and VIP protection
¨ Driver training
¨ Night Club crime prevention
Selectamark’s current business contacts include Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, China, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Finland, United Arab Emirates and Europe.
Export award recognises continuing effort for future years
In presenting the award, Jim Harrower said that Jim Brown had been driving forward the Export Council and was instrumental in securing His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent as Patron of the Export Council. Jim has also been active with the Association of Police and Public Security Services (APPSS). He said:
“Jim continues to travel the world to promote his company through exporting and is a shining example of the success that forming positive links across the globe can bring”.
