One of the UK’s leading crowd management specialists has warned that London’s 2012 Olympics could lead to standards being lowered and the security industry devalued. Many of the 6,000 stewards required to staff the games will be recruited via local colleges, and Mark Harding at Showsec International is concerned that pressures of finance and time will lead to concessions in training. 

“We want to be sure that there are no concessions given for a three-week event that could have an enormous impact on the rest of the industry for a long time,” he says. “I am concerned that the legacy of the games will be diminished safety standards inside the industry.”

Organisers are six to twelve months from appointing an official security provider, but Harding – who coordinated security for the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester – is also concerned that special dispensation will be given to allow inadequately qualified staff to fulfil stewarding roles. This is not the first time the Olympics have been accused of double standards by the industry, and promoters have already spoken out against them being designated a Crown Jewel event, which automatically prohibits ticket resale, while the UK government otherwise refuses to act on secondary ticketing.