As we reflect on the past 12 months, it is hard to know where to begin and if it is even appropriate to take on a celebratory tone. But at Magenta Security, planning for the worst and hoping for the best is part of our profession, so we know the value of a silver lining and positivity even in the darkest times.
Here are a few moments of positivity that we managed to enjoy amongst the pandemic.
Through all of the challenges 2020 put in our way, our 25th anniversary has served as a beacon of pride, inspiring us to maintain our standards, our principles and our mission – even when it was harder than ever.
The belief that security companies can be better is the very reason that Managing Director Abbey Petkar founded Magenta Security a quarter-century ago, and that belief carried the company to where it is today.
Due to the pandemic, we had to put most of our anniversary plans on hold but we can assure all our clients, business partners and industry peers that we will throw a party worthy of our 25-year milestone as soon as COVID-19 is behind us.
Amongst our virtual celebrations, the anniversary provided an opportunity to reflect on how Magenta Security achieved our longevity, how the security industry has and has not changed and how we might continue to grow over the next 25 years.
One of the most contentious issues of the year was whether families entitled to free school meals should continue to receive support outside of term-time, coming to a head with Marcus Rashford’s free school meals campaign.
For Abbey Petkar, there was no debate.
“The children going hungry, it wasn’t their fault that they were in that predicament,” said Abbey. “Why should they suffer because of inaction or indecisiveness from the government as to what they would or would not do?”
Working with local organisations, Magenta Security focused our school meal efforts on Birmingham, an area that had been especially hard-hit by the economic impact of COVID-19.
In the end, we provided over 1200 chef-cooked lunches and dinners to children over the October half term, with an additional 30 families given food boxes to help them prepare nutritious food at home.
2020 hasn’t been a year that has provided many reasons to celebrate, so it was a welcome relief to attend the West London Local Chambers Awards, where Magenta Security was awarded ‘Best Green Business 2020’.
Forgoing the usual hotel dinner celebration, more than 100 guests crowded into a Zoom call to announce the winners and celebrate business achievements across Ealing, Hounslow and Hammersmith and Fulham.
“The judging panel said that our submission was the best they had received,” said Abbey. “This was high praise considering we were up against multimillion pound worldwide companies in the Green Business category.”
When lockdown began, a surge of appreciation for frontline workers spread across the country. But which professions were and were not considered “frontline” went much further than weekly clapping – it had tremendous impact on the support they were entitled to receive.
Abbey Petkar lobbied for security guards to be included as frontline workers, a designation they had not initially received despite them continuing to protect hospitals and vital infrastructure in the height of the pandemic. Thankfully, security guards were granted frontline status soon after.
As a company, we have done all we can to make sure our frontline workers are supported, protected and cared for beyond their immediate needs, with a focus on mental well-being as well as physical.
After this pandemic is a distant memory, we hope that the compassion for others, belief in the greater good and acknowledgement of our shared vulnerabilities that helped us through 2020 carries on. We are stronger and safer together.
Magenta Security provide award winning security services throughout the UK. We are in the top 5% of ACS approved contractors and were the first security company in Europe to be awarded ISO 14001 for our environmental management systems.
