24 February 2025
Excel London has undertaken its largest ever series of training exercises as part of its continued commitment to safety, security and preparedness within the events industry.
Held at the Royal Docks venue, the training sessions saw more than 250 personnel attend from multiple agencies, all of whom work on the 400 events hosted annually at Excel.
The training - which was run by multi-award-winning incident and risk management provider Halo Solutions - was aimed to enhance their preparedness and resilience in an emergency and featured a mix of training presentations from leading security figures followed by a series of ultra-realistic emergency simulations.
The day saw speakers and training delivered by Danni Grant (CT Protect), Nick Aldworth (Carlisle Support Services), Bill Thornton (Inkerman Group), John Sheppard (MediTechs), David Hay (Ikon) and many more.
Attracting more than four million visitors a year, Excel endeavours to lead the way in venue safety and security, regularly hosting comprehensive training exercises, as well as collaboration with the Metropolitan Police and specialist counter terrorism policing units.
Excel also boasts a highly trained canine detection unit led by ICTS UK & Ireland, one of a handful of organisations accredited to NCTAS-P standards. It was also the first UK venue to introduce Individual First Aid Belts (IFAB™) – containing vital medical components including a defibrillator – allowing officers to give life-saving medical assistance in an instant.
The training day saw participation from many of our security suppliers and partners including Carlisle Support Services, ICTS, Stambridge Group, G4S, Secure Ops, EEP and Ministry Protective.
Henry Havis, Excel’s Head of Security Strategy and Resilience and lead on the AEV security working group, commented: “The safety, security and wellbeing of everyone who visits Excel London is, and always will be, our utmost priority. Being prepared for every eventuality can make all the difference, so we regularly work with all our agencies to give them in depth knowledge and training, but also so they know the venue inside and out.”
He added: “Working with Halo Solutions allows us to create bespoke training packages to ensure we can equip all our staff, contractors and suppliers with crucial knowledge and skills. All the partners that make up the Excel Security Family believe in making Excel a safe place to operate and we put #Protectinglives at the centre of everything we do.”
