A new apprenticeship programme by RISCO is playing its part in helping the security industry to address a 30,000 shortage of engineers.

Taking place in conjunction with a restructuring of the firm’s sales operation, the initiative will also enhance the UK installer offer provided by the manufacturer and distributor of security solutions.

The new apprentices will help to ensure that RISCO continues to give installers rapid access to knowledgeable, UK based engineers who provide them with critical technical support to facilitate the efficient delivery of projects, including multi-site Grade 3 commercial installations.

In conjunction with the UK’s leading security apprenticeship training provider, Skills for Security – which works in association with the BSIA (British Security Industry Association) and security sector skills body The Banks Foundation – the company has appointed its first two apprentices.

Based at the company’s UK HQ in Rochdale, Mehedi Hussain and Ricardo Butler have completed intensive training in RISCO’s hardware infrastructure and software platforms and are now fully fledged apprentice technical support technicians, providing first-line installer assistance as part of the in-house technical support team.

With both apprentices committed to long-term careers in the security industry – Butler is already planning one day to start his own business – RISCO hopes that its programme will not only help to enhance its own installer support service, but will also go some way towards helping safeguard the future of the industry by nurturing new engineering talent.

In further evidence of RISCO’s ongoing commitment to meet precisely the needs of installers, it has restructured its sales team with the appointment of four new regional sales managers (RSMs) and two promotions.

Dave Strawson has been promoted to national sales manager following seven years with the company.

He leads a team of five RSMs with a combined industry experience of over 150 years.

The solution-focused team will work directly with installers, gaining a unique insight into their pain-points and evolving requirements, ensuring that they are catered for with bespoke solutions drawing on RISCO’s product and service portfolio.

Patricia Jones is RISCO’s new RSM for the North of England; Michael Mitchell covers Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland; Mark Ward manages the Central England and North Wales territory; Joe Boyle takes care of installers in the South West of England and South Wales; Anton Wedderburn looks after those in South East England and London.

The new RSMs will be supported by three sales engineers who provide installers with bespoke training and technical support on RISCO products, and five customer service representatives.

RISCO offers a concise security product portfolio – spanning commercial, industrial and residential sectors – to installers, who also benefit from the company’s comprehensive programme of training events, webinars and videos.

Said RISCO’s UK and Ireland managing director, Mark Taylor: “Our technical apprentices and new sales team will help to ensure that our installers receive from us exactly the products and support services they need, precisely when they need them, enabling them to efficiently deliver top quality security projects, for installations up to multi-site Grade 3 commercial.

“Looking at the bigger picture, RISCO is proud to be investing in apprentices and attracting new talent to the industry, at a real time of need.”

RISCO supplies a portfolio of wired, wireless and hybrid solutions, including cloud security, video monitoring and verification and connected home systems.

A technological pioneer, the company was established in 1978 and became the first to introduce cloud-based solutions to the UK intruder alarm market.

RISCO’s cloud and interactive services related to security, building management and smart-home solutions are ISO 27001 security certified against cyber attacks.

It is an ECHO (electronic call handing operations)- ready supplier, providing products facilitating swift police response to emergency alarms.

https://www.riscogroup.com/uk