What a difference 18 months makes. Zitko at The Security Event.

Finally, The Security Event took place at Birmingham NEC in early September, some 18 months after the industry last had the opportunity to come face to face at a gathering of this scale. And it certainly didn’t seem like it was a minute too soon.

The Zitko stand was well attended and not just by industry visitors. Since the last show, the company’s virtually doubled in size and over the three days, we had most of our 30+ team present.

But Zitko hasn’t just grown in numbers. Last show we unveiled out new sales resourcing practice. By this one, we’d evolved into a 360-degree talent consultancy that’s uniquely equipped to help employers attract, train, recruit, retain and engage with their people.

One of the major talking points was Zitko Talent. Launched in autumn 2020, Talent is the Security industry’s first train & deploy solution; 12 months of structured technical training and work experience designed to cross-train carefully selected people from other industries.

Numerous show conversations showed that while the skills shortage has been spoken about for years, the industry is now seriously looking for solutions. With its strong employer, manufacturer, education and industry partners, Talent’s a compelling answer.

The pandemic has undoubtedly changed the world’s workplace culture, I suspect for good. Aside from the acceleration in remote / home working, many employees are questioning how they want to lead their working lives. Employers need to listen and act.

A desire to do so was clear at the show. Zitko’s research, communication and engagement services were a major topic of conversation on the stand. They’re specialisms we’ve naturally refined over the years and they’re now available as standalone solutions.

One current project involves employee engagement, salary benchmarking and employer brand audit for a leading security company employing over 500 people. The findings will fundamentally shape the business’s employment strategy, maximising attraction and retention.

Not that we’re neglecting what is still our core business, recruitment. We’ve grown our teams significantly, even through the pandemic. And we’ve invested in processes, systems and capabilities that will create even better candidate and client experiences.

And one further, exciting change. Zitko is now formally international. Led by Tim Ward, our new International division is the logical progression to our successful partnership with global businesses such as Northland Controls and Evolution.

It will provide our full service across North America and mainland Europe. Another milestone and what an 18 months it’s been. Thanks to everyone we work with for your inspiration and support. See you at the next show in April 2022.