insight

ISE 2026 takeaway: most of what security does is never seen. From spring 2027, that is a problem.

2 October 2026

Anyone who runs a security operation knows what it does for an organization. The people who pay for it rarely see it. Security is still bought as a line item: a cost that has to be justified at every renewal, and written into tenders as a number of officers at an hourly rate.

The result is a market that competes on price, because price is the only thing a buyer can compare.

That was the thread running through International Security Expo 2026. Security providers are tired of being thought of as "men and vehicles," and they are right to be. What a good provider gives a client is reliable information about what is happening on their sites, trained people who understand the environment, capability that is integrated with the rest of the organization , and judgment when something has to be recorded and reported. Almost none of that is visible to the client. And because they cannot see it, security gets treated as an optional extra that has to be justified, rather than part of what keeps an organization running.

The pressure is going one way

Providers are being asked to handle increasingly difficult situations while understaffed and under-resourced. When a team is stretched, the first thing to go is the record of what they did. The work still happens. It leaves no trace. And a client cannot pay for what they cannot see.

Speakers across both days landed on the same mechanism. If price is the only visible difference, price will decide. Buyers fall back on the hourly rate because it is the easiest number to compare, report and defend. Good work slips by quietly. Substandard work gets remembered. Most reporting shows activity without showing what it achieved.

Martyn's Law adds a second audience

Until now, the only person who needed to see the value of security was the client. From spring 2027, a regulator will too.

The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act applies to any premises where 200 or more people could reasonably be present at the busiest time. A full pub on a Friday qualifies. Standard tier (200 to 799) requires procedures for evacuation, invacuation, lockdown and communication. Enhanced tier (800 and above) adds documented measures, a named senior individual and an assessment submitted to the SIA, which will inspect and can issue penalties.

The legal duty sits with the venue or premises operator. The delivery, in most cases, sits with the security team. So the question a client has always asked informally, did your people do what we are paying for, becomes a question an inspector asks with notice, in writing, with records expected.

The takeaway from ISE is that a written procedure is not the same as a working one. If the people on shift have not been trained and the drills have not happened, the document will not get you through an inspection. Martyn's Law asks for a plan. An inspector will ask for proof that your team can carry it out.

Buyers will pay for what they can see

The encouraging part. Several speakers described recent bids where the cheaper incumbent lost. The gap is not the client's willingness to pay more for a better service. It is the evidence that one bid is better than the other.

What a client, or an inspector, needs to know is simple. If something happened on the site, was it captured? If it was captured, did somebody review it? If it was reviewed, did it tell them something they did not already know?

A log of hours worked answers none of that. An account of what took place, reviewed and understood, answers all of it. As one speaker put it, you are no longer selling staff at a fixed price. You are selling expertise the client does not have.

From final layer to part of the operation

Security should not be the last thing added to an operation. It should be integrated into it and reported like any other part of the business, with evidence. The providers who can do that stop competing on price, because the buyer can finally see what they are paying for. The venues that can do it walk into an inspection with something better than a binder. That is the shift we are building for. Captured. Reviewed. Understood. Evidenced.

General information, not legal advice. For Martyn's Law requirements, refer to GOV.UK and the SIA's published guidance.