Three quarters of businesses say security shortages impact public safety

The survey, which had 103 respondents representing more than 2,000 individual businesses, also showed 60% felt the shortage was impacting public confidence​ to go on nights out with 10% feeling as though they were unable to operate.

NTIA CEO Michael Kill said: “We are simply running out of time: the sector has been raising the alarm about security resource concerns for the last few years and we are only now slowly starting to engage with the Government on this crisis.”

Remedy the situation 

Furthermore, 57% of respondents stated they felt the quality of door staff was ‘poor’ while 77% felt the upcoming summer and festival season would further affect resources as many experienced security staff were expected to be diverted to festivals.

Kill added: “The summer is approaching very quickly, and we need Government intervention to remedy the situation before we are potentially subject to another tragedy where lives are lost, and we are left to take action retrospectively.”

This comes as one in six students said they have previously had their drink spiked​ at a nightlife venue, with 80% believing venues were not doing enough to reduce the risk of spiking, according to the third edition of Stint’s​ The Students Sentiment Tracker.

Relevant tools

Kill said: “The current Private Security Act is not fit for purpose; the regulator is struggling to control the market without the relevant tools and we are about to embark on one of the busiest event seasons for the last decade following on from the pandemic.

“Government needs to act - and act fast.”