Door staff at Ultimate stuck in SIA quagmire
by Tony Halstead
Door staff have seen an average of two rejections for every successful application for new security badge licences, Ultimate Leisure has revealed.
The northeast-based company claimed 16 out of 55 applications submitted by its managers and assistants were successful first-time round.
The remainder were turned down for a host of minor reasons, adding to an already major backlog in processing applications.
One manager has seen his application sent back on three occasions leading to a six-month delay, which has now made his registration cheque invalid.
Last month, it was reported less than half of an estimated 3,500 door staff in the northeast had gained official SIA badges.
Police said they were using discretion for all door staff who could illustrate their SIA licences were being processed.
Ultimate Leisure managing director Bob Senior said his staff had been waiting an average of 14 weeks to get their licences.
"We recorded every application submitted by our managers and assistants and logged progress on each one.
"There have been long delays made worse by the number of applications which have been sent back," he revealed.
Forms have been returned for several different reasons including photographs not signed on the back and parts of forms filled in with the wrong coloured ink.
"It's a difficult time for our industry and with the new Licensing Act looming I can see problems ahead of us for the next 18 months at least," he added.
Bar Entertainment & Dance Association chief executive Jon Collins said there would be a very grave situation if police abandoned their discretionary approach and adopted a zerotolerance policy.
"If things change, a shortage of door staff would lead to spiralling wages and venues closed because they had no door cover," he warned.
SIA spokesperson Robert Buxton said about 10% of applications had been returned because of mistakes on the forms.
l Police checks on door staff in West Yorkshire revealed that 50% had still to obtain a Security Industry Authority (SIA) licence.
West Yorkshire and Holbeck police were forced to send 58 door staff home and ordered them not to return to work until they had applied for a SIA licence.
