Case Study #1: The Trafford Centre - Manchester

Trafford Centre

Our principal consultant's appointment as manager of the Trafford Centre Security Consultancy some two years before opening serves as a practical example of how our approach works.

The Trafford Centre, is a large new prestigious, sub-regional retail and leisure complex opened in September 1998. The development offers around 30 million visitors per annum 1.4.million square feet of mixed retail and leisure facilities, with around 280 retail units and 3 miles of shop fronts, with a 20 screen multiplex cinema. In addition the Centre has been subject of the country’s largest licensing application, 23 separate licences in all.

The centre has been developed by The Trafford Centre Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Peel Holdings plc at a cost of £670 million and has established a new benchmark in retailing standards and quality of service.

Through our security consultancy services NSG have -

  • Worked with architects, both concept and implementation, to ensure the principles of crime prevention through environmental design are incorporated in design detail, assisting where necessary with the complicated planning process
  • Worked with the Greater Manchester Police, Principle Architectural Liaison Officer, towards the granting of the prestigious ‘Secure by Design’ award. In March 1999 the award was made to the centre, and is acknowledged to be the largest development in the country ever to have received the award.
  • Undertook a detailed Risk Assessment in relation to predicted levels of criminal victimisation, which assessed the likely impact of that victimisation on the Centre’s Owners, its tenants and the visiting public
  • Profiled the Centre’s in-house security force
  • Undertook a detailed security system operational requirement analysis
  • Produced a management concept to manage the images from a 300+ camera CCTV system, which involves the revolutionary interface with other security systems, both electronic and human
  • Produced detailed security system specifications
  • Formulated the Centre’s Crisis and Contingency Plan, involving consultation with emergency services, statutory organisations, medical authorities and others. This involved the production of the Centre’s Crisis Management Handbook, and Operational Fire Procedures Manual
  • Assisted with the production of the compliance standards for the Centre’s Recruitment and Training Foundation, helping to establish new standards of excellence in the delivery of customer service in the retail sector
  • The recruitment of a 90 strong in-house security team, together with the production of a bespoke 10 week NVQ underpinning knowledge training course
  • The production of security manuals of guidance, standing orders and codes of practice.

 James Lindsay, the Centre’s Business Director commented:

“NSG Security Consultants provided security consultancy to the project from May 1996 to September 1998 when the Centre opened, to work and report directly to me, the Centre’s Business Director, with regard to all aspects of life safety and security. The Secure by Design criteria alone generated a great deal of work but achieved a highly effective end result. NSG as a company are very forward thinking, their knowledge and expertise, from design to implementation resulted in a unique understanding of safety from both the customer and retailer perspective, which instilled peace of mind.”

A spokesperson for NSG said

“The Trafford Centre is one of the country’s largest and most prestigious developments in recent years, we are delighted to have been associated with it. More especially we are pleased that our contribution to the development has helped significantly in benchmarking the centre as one the country’s safest retail and leisure destination. Our involvement over such a long period of time we believe reinforces our reputation for being able to work through complex projects”