Advance Security Provide Royal Protection

Leading manned guarding company, Advance Security, was honoured to provide security for the Queen during her recent visit to Milton Keynes.

In a day that saw the Queen visit over 2000 people in Milton Keynes, the security logistics were complex and vast. A team of 29 security officers were deployed, along with 11 operational managers to undertake crowd control, access control and personnel and bag searches.

Chris Palmer, national projects director, explained Advance’s role throughout the day, “It was our duty to protect the Queen to the best of our ability, whilst minimising the disruption to the day. Judging by the atmosphere on the day and the fact that there were no security breaches of any kind, we achieved both of these objectives.”

Potentially, one of the biggest areas of threat during the day were the high-rise flats that surround the city hub and given due consideration, according to Chris. ‘Through consultancy with the local police and special branch, it was decide that, as the flats were already access controlled, the most effective way of providing protection to the Queen was to closely monitor the flats. In fact, the control room that was set up especially for the day was located on the forth floor of one block, giving us maximum opportunity to spot a security breach.

Damien Campbell, one of the security officers on the day, believed it to be one of the defining days of his career, “To protect the Queen is, of course, a huge responsibility but one that I felt honoured to be taking on. The Queen and Prince Phillip were lovely. They really appreciated the work that we put in and let us all know face-to-face. It was a really nice thing to do as so often in the security industry your work goes unnoticed.”