Bristish Car Auctions
Leerose in the driving seat with nationwide BCA contract - 27th October 2008
According to Ian Reid, group security manager at Europe’s largest vehicle auction company, British Car Auctions (BCA), which has thousands of vehicles under its care and control at any one time, “securing anything outdoors is infinitely more difficult than indoors.”
The company given the responsibility to meet this challenge is Rochdale-based Leerose Integrated Systems which has secured the contract to provide integrated CCTV and perimeter protection equipment across BCA’s 21 UK auction sites.
 Since carrying out its first security installation for BCA at its Manchester Belle Vue auction site several years ago, Leerose has gone on to complete several other centres throughout the country. The latest contract roll-out to upgrade security across BCA’s network is on schedule for completion by early 2009.
Whilst every BCA auction site is different in terms of its security challenges, the basic requirement on each project is the need to safeguard the large volume of cars, commercial vehicles, motorcycles and even caravans that BCA has in its care and control throughout its UK network.
Sophisticated CCTV and electronic perimeter protection systems, often involving up to 20 strategically located cameras on some of the larger venues, enables remote monitoring of vehicle and people movement across every area of a site. On most BCA sites, there are three or four distinct parking zones, including the main canopied viewing area where the vehicles are lined up prior to driving into the auction hall, and each of these zones requires a different level of security.
Leerose’s experience in providing integrated systems has allowed it to design and specify a spacial detection system that will prove effective in detecting intrusion. Long range external detectors provide coverage of vast open areas with external passive infra-red (PIR) devices which can pick up intruders as they walk from one area to another and active infra-red point to point beams creating an invisible fence line.
A multi-camera installation, including high speed dome units with digital recording, can capture images from all areas of a site and feed them back to a suite of monitoring screens at each local office. Here staff can take control of the CCTV system, using pan, tilt and zoom camera facilities to get detailed, high quality images and records of intruders and incidents.
But when it comes to site security at BCA, monitoring vehicle movement is only half the story. BCA hosts over 100 vehicle auctions every week, each one attended by thousands of customers.
Says Ian Reid: “An all-seeing, state-of-the-art integrated security system captures an electronic record of events that occurs on our sites, vehicular or human, and acts as a powerful deterrent.
“It’s not just preventing the loss of actual vehicles that BCA is concerned with; it’s the smaller scale incidents such as the petty theft of hub-caps, anti-social behaviour or accidental vehicle damage that can undermine the smooth operation of an auction’s business.”
Back in the local control rooms, the quality of the high definition images recorded on the CCTV system can provide definitive evidence of if and how an incident actually occurred for retrospective action and, if necessary, prosecution. However, sometimes a more immediate response is needed and horn speakers strategically located around the sites enable the controller to directly target an announcement at an intruder or offender there and then, leaving them in no doubt that their actions are being observed and recorded.
Remote Monitoring
 As well as the facility to track CCTV images at each local auction site, one of the main benefits of the Leerose system is that images from every BCA site are fed back to one central station enabling remote monitoring nationwide. Although this centre is active 24/7 with black screen monitoring, it really comes into its own at night if an intruder activates an alarm which then informs the operator which site and which zone is affected. It automatically screens images from the relevant camera and the controller then has an immediate ‘real time’ view of the incident, can track the intruder’s movements across the site and can even challenge them with audible warnings that they are being observed.
Furthermore, remote monitoring can also be undertaken by any BCA manager with the necessary password and broadband connectivity to the system, so it becomes as much a management tool as it does a security solution. At any time of day or night, BCA management can access a live feed to any of their UK auction sites and take control of the CCTV cameras to view specific areas or operations.
On an auction day, for example, staff can remotely monitor every stage of the operation and use the information to change or improve procedures that make their systems more efficient. Or, as has happened during severe weekend weather conditions, a manager can remotely observe an auction site to see if flooding or snow is starting to pose a threat to parked vehicles.
This integrated solution and remote monitoring facility has helped reduce the ongoing cost of manned guards and patrols and with return on investment a major consideration for every security project and BCA no exception when it comes to seeking value for money, it has helped justify the expenditure on a state of the art system.
Ian Reid acknowledges Leerose has developed into an important partner: “Leerose not only develops the most sophisticated, integrated systems, but also applies them to the specific security challenges facing our auction sites, and within available budgets. By taking time to understand our business requirements and offer genuine solutions, Leerose has proved itself a valuable partner, and has been rewarded with this extended contract to install across all 21 of our UK auction sites.” |
