‘Sorry sir – trainers only’

25 August 2011

A security firm has set up a school for night-club bouncers, which teaches them etiquette and good manners.

The firm, Precreate Solutions, took steps to educate their door-staff after running a survey which showed that a shocking 74% of London clubbers had had a night out ruined by rude or unreasonable door staff.

Precreate Solutions, who provide doormen for several of the top London clubs, realised that their doormen needed a lot more than just muscle and a big coat to deal with the capital’s discerning clientele.

They now send all of their staff as standard to a special course, which they run in Chelmsford, Essex every 6 weeks, with the next one being held in October 2011. The course is run by Ian Hawkridge, formerly of the Metropolitan Police, who teaches security staff how to deal politely with customers, even the unruly ones, in a way that won’t cause offence. At the end of the course the security staff are fully trained to NVQ 2 standard so they also have a qualification they can take with them afterwards.

Precreate Solutions director Gary Jackson said: “By far the biggest complaint of anyone going clubbing or to see live music in London was the bouncers. We were shocked at the scale of the problem and the vast majority of Londoners that we surveyed had had a night ruined by a rude and unreasonable bouncer. It’s an awful situation for both customers and clubs and tourism in general to have this happen, because in most cases customers will never come back to a venue after a bad experience on the door.”

A year ago new legislation was brought in (1/6/10) for all door-staff to learn the correct restraining holds but Jackson thinks there needs to be more done to make sure that the clientele are looked after properly. He said: “Most of the interactions by security are of a verbal nature and not physical so it makes sense to have security know how to deal with situations diplomatically and politely, rather than by causing offence.

“It makes sense for all venues to implement this training scheme and we have found that this way they will create a happier customer experience and from that build a more loyal client base.”
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