Retail Security and Loss Prevention Staff

Retail security & loss prevention¹ staff ensure that shops, shopping centres and retail warehouses remain safe and secure at all time.

Relevant qualifications for retail security staff include the City & Guilds Level 2 Certificate for Security Guards² and the Edexcel Level 2 BTEC Award in Security Operations. For those wishing to enter into security jobs with higher level qualifications, foundation degrees, bachelors degrees and postgraduate degrees covering security and risk management are available. Some security organisations offer apprenticeship schemes, which may lead to work-based qualifications, such as NVQs.

All retail security staff undertake on-the-job training alongside trained staff members.

Training may involve gaining an SIA security guard licence and an SIA public space surveillance (CCTV) licence. To be granted a licence, trainees must be at least 18 years of age and must successfully pass background checks.

Retail security staff are mainly employed by shops and shopping centres. Larger retailers tend to employ their own security staff while smaller retailers tend to rely on contract staff provided by private security companies.

Employment openings, which usually involve shift work, are typically found in trade publications and through security recruitment agencies.

Starting salaries for retail security staff are around 12,000 a year.

Following gaining experience and qualifications, employees may be able to move into higher paid supervisory or managerial roles.

Alternatively, they may move across different sub-sectors, from patrolling a shopping centre on foot to operating its CCTV systems.

References

1. ^{^} Retail security & loss prevention (www.agencycentral.co.uk)
2. ^{^} City & Guilds Level 2 Certificate for Security Guards (www.cityandguilds.com)

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Retail Security and Loss Prevention Staff