Risk management case studies: how Ashridge deploys across UK sites

Our risk management case studies follow four sector patterns: heritage and conservation; transport and infrastructure; utilities and regulated industries; and high-rise residential. Below we set out what we and Cognitious, our consultancy arm, have published about each, using only the facts on our live case study pages. This is not a portfolio of risk registers. Our own security contracts appear here as proof of how we manage risk on site, and the Delapré Abbey work is the consultancy example. We hold SIA ACS Approved status for security guarding (ref ELSELISC02) and ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 certificates. Cognitious is the consultancy arm of Ashridge safety services. For the wider context, read What is Risk Management and How to Choose Risk Management. Our geographic anchor is London commercial property.

What does the Delapré Abbey risk engagement involve?

Cognitious, an Ashridge Group company, delivered a security survey, a security strategy and a 150-page health and safety policy for Delapré Abbey in Northamptonshire, a listed building with registered battlefield status. We then provided two years of ongoing support as the Abbey’s designated Competent Person. The Abbey’s page ranks it in the top 8% of heritage sites. Under regulation 7 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, an employer must appoint one or more competent persons to help it meet its health and safety duties. That is the role Cognitious held here. Read the full account: heritage site security at Delapré Abbey.

How does the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon risk engagement work?

On the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon improvement scheme, a £1.5 billion project, we took over 24/7 manned guarding in June 2019. We secured 14 fixed and moveable compounds along 21 miles of upgraded road plus a 12-mile bypass. Our case study page describes it as the largest construction scheme in the UK at that time. The risk here was continuity. The takeover came at short notice after the previous provider failed. Construction projects like this sit under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, which place duties on the client, principal designer and principal contractor. See security on the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon scheme.

What does the Experian and UK Power Networks engagement look like?

We provided corporate security for Experian UK from October 2018 to November 2022: 22 officers including one supervisor and one manager, a 24/7 control room, four SIA-licensed receptionists across two London locations, and access control covering 20 Experian UK locations nationally. That contract has ended. Separately, we have supplied UK Power Networks since 2014. Our emergency meter safety programme visited 24,150 properties in eight months. Of those, 1.97% were transitioned to warrant, all successfully, and we reported a 100% success rate to the HSE. See corporate security and reception for Experian UK and the UK Power Networks emergency meter safety programme.

How does Chelsea Waterfront’s Building Safety Act 2022 engagement work?

At Chelsea Waterfront, a central London residential complex managed by Rendall & Rittner, we provide 24/7 manned guarding, 365 days a year, with entrance ambassadors plus foot patrol. The Building Safety Act 2022 sets duties for occupied higher-risk buildings. Our guarding sits alongside whatever safety duties the building’s accountable persons carry. The case study does not say that we prepare a safety case, and we do not claim that here. See 24/7 manned guarding at Chelsea Waterfront.

What is a higher-risk building under the Building Safety Act 2022?

Under section 65 of the Building Safety Act 2022, an occupied higher-risk building in England is at least 18 metres in height or has at least seven storeys, and contains at least two residential units. The 2023 supplementary regulations exclude hotels, hospitals, care homes, secure residential institutions and military barracks from the in-occupation regime.

What does a Competent Person do under health and safety law?

Regulation 7 requires an employer to appoint one or more competent persons to assist with compliance, with adequate time and resources for the size of the business and its risks. HSE guidance says employers must identify hazards, assess the risk and act to control it. A Competent Person assists the employer. The employer stays responsible, and we would tell you that at the start of any engagement.

How do you start a risk engagement with Cognitious?

Cognitious works from the facts of each site, so we agree scope case by case. ISO 31000:2018 is a set of guidelines, not a certifiable standard, and BS 31100:2021 replaced BS 31100:2011 as the British Standard code of practice for risk management. To discuss your site, send us the address, sector, what prompted the request and any deadline. Email [email protected] or call us on 0800 085 5022.