Michael Grahamslaw talks to Peter Moore, Director at T3 Security.
In a sentence how would you describe the year 2020?
The year we added the words Pivot and Furlough to our everyday vocabulary and when toilet roll became the nation’s most valuable commodity.
How has your company adapted to the Coronavirus crisis?
We have had to become far more adaptable and trialled new ways of working and introduced innovative new services. Prior to the pandemic we were essentially just a manned guarding company and these services just weren’t cost effective for companies with little or no cashflow so we have introduced some new more flexible services including mobile patrols, CCTV monitoring and 24 hour control room services which can be tailored to suit our client’s needs. These new services have proved to be enormously popular. What are you currently working on?
We continue to do a lot of work with the NHS including the North East Nightingale Hospital, The QE and the RVI. In addition we are involved with the Malhotra Group on their new Three Mile Inn and Alnwick Care home developments, we have been providing security cover for the Port of Blyth and Fenwick. We have also recently began working with Kapex Construction on their fantastic development at Mitford, and with four government tenders in the final decision stages there is certainly a lot going on.
What have you learned about yourself this year?
I learnt that I am far more adaptable to change than I thought, during the first stages of lockdown it would have been very easy to just sit back and accept what was happening and just take a break, we did quite the opposite we really dug in and used the opportunity to transform and adapt the business to fit the current market.
How have you adapted to remote working and how has this affected?
We were already prepared for remote working as a business, most of our management quite often work remotely due to the nature of the business. A number of our office team worked remotely during the beginning of the pandemic but most were keen to come back to the office.
Which regional businesses have you admired in their response to the pandemic?
My old school friend Pete Watson of Atlas Cloud has done really well with assisting businesses to work remotely and enabling online working. The leisure sector have been phenomenal in the way they have adapted their venues in such a short time frame to make them Covid safe in particular The Apartment Group with their innovative Beach Box site in Jesmond and Tommy Byron with his ever extending beer garden at Market Shaker.
Have you developed any popular personal habits as a result of lockdown?
I am a strong believer in self discipline and I have made sure throughout this period I have continued to get up every morning at 5.30am to train and keep myself physically and mentally active. This undoubtedly has helped improved my mindset and I feel much better equipped to deal with the challenges we currently face.
Has 2020 been the toughest challenge of your career?
It’s no secret that I love a good challenge and this has certainly been the biggest learning curve in my career but at the same time it has been immensely satisfying and rewarding.
What will 2021 bring for yourself and your company?
Naturally the hope will be for the economy to recover from the pandemic and for life to go back to some semblance of normality. We will continue to drive the business forward with the aim of sustaining further growth.
