UMBRA News

Key to UMBRA’s Secure Lifestyle methodology involves us sharing and promoting easy-to-assimilate information with our clients and community. This is so that we can empower people and make the world a safer place, encouraging everyone to hone their ‘gut instinct’ to look out for ourselves, and others. With it being International Women’s Day (IWD) we wanted to use this time to empower women by sharing the access we have to powerful resources in safety training and educational material, through to news updates and insights from some of our leading specialists in personal safety. The theme of this year’s IWD is ‘Embrace Equity’ and we hope our resources and values help you to be part of the conversation to make the world a more equitable place for everyone

It is important to realise that as humans we have an incredible ability to pick up knowledge and information about our surroundings. We can use our senses, and that little voice inside us that tells us to be mindful of the places we enter and of the people around us, to great effect. Realising that you have this inner bodyguard can inspire you to better prepare for your travels and be more connected to your surroundings.

Modern life can be frantic, and you might find your lifestyle is such that you’re often rushing around, and this can affect your ability to see things clearly. It is important to manage your life in a way that stops it from turning your inner world into one that moves so quickly you’re not in control. Find ways to relax and to centre yourself. Living a Secure Lifestyle is predicated on the knowledge that this is a skill that can be learnt, and we are happy to provide these techniques to our clients.

We know that street criminals often spend time studying those who pass them by, they assess who could be perceived as an easy target. If a client had a Close Protection (bodyguard) team, this might considerably deter some criminals for example. On the same level, if your inner bodyguard is alert and seems to be ‘on duty’, this will make you better at choosing routes, better at seeing things in advance, and you are less likely to drop your guard. You should then be less approachable to thieves or other street criminals.

In the Close Protection field, a team may consist of a direct physical presence and others with a more discreet presence, we talk about ‘invisible security’ a lot – especially in relation to our female operators who sometimes go completely unnoticed. Sometimes, the best bodyguard is invisible. Invisible in that they attract less attention, they are harder to notice, and they blend naturally into the background. This is a skill we can help you with. As a starting point, understand the factors that make you appear on the radar of certain criminals, from the jewellery that you wear to the way you move about, to the way you use your phone when out and about.

To avoid some of the risks that are out there, we need to be aware of how risk levels can vary based on various factors such as time of day, the areas we move through, and the venues we head to. Certain risks can be more prevalent in specific environments or areas – eg an open countryside environment vs a busy urban one. Also, understand what makes us falsely perceive risk levels. Again, this is something we explain in more detail in our situational awareness courses.

Your inner bodyguard is also a mindset to help you think about how you manage your space. It enables you to better understand distance, relationship boundaries and ways to move, so you can maintain or adjust the space. There are also accessible tools you can use to generate distance, this includes the use of body language, dialogue and understanding your options. We cover this in our situational awareness course.

People often ask about self-defence training, and this is certainly something we provide. Our approach has multiple layers. Physical skills certainly have a place, but self-defence is a far wider subject with many other moving parts. We will look at evasive procedures, ways of reducing confrontational outcomes, and ways to strengthen the inner bodyguard so that you are better at picking up signs of trouble much earlier. Physical self-defence training certainly helps to build confidence, and increase agility and in some cases, it really could help a person to get out of a tight spot. We just don’t want our clients to be in these situations in the first place, hence our situational awareness-focused initial training approach.

The types of safety knowledge and the way you use your inner bodyguard can also depend on your role, occupation, and lifestyle. We have developed courses specific for private office employees, nannies, teachers, front-of-house staff, high-profile clients, parents and for specific family members – across the generations. Ultimately, we want you to realise the potential of your inner bodyguard and how it can serve you in life, whatever your role and whoever you are. A Secure Lifestyle is something that should be accessible to everyone.

For more information about our training courses email secure@umbrainternational.com.

From all at UMBRA International, we wish you a happy and safe International Women’s Day. #IWD2023 #EmbraceEquity

February is almost here, and it’s time when many people will be out celebrating Valentine’s Day. For those who are single, it can be a time to meet a new person or go out with someone you’ve recently gotten to know. Others may feel inspired to head to a Valentine’s social event or party. And why not! 

Our Secure Lifestyle Team feels this is a good time for us to share safety tips that could be useful for when you go out on a date, so you don’t leave yourself vulnerable. Then again, if you really want to feel more secure, why not participate in one of our bespoke training courses. We’ll share with you the security knowledge of the professionals, physical skills and dynamic mindset training.

1) Homework: If you organise a date, whether through online platforms or an everyday encounter, see what research you can do beforehand. You don’t have to be an intelligence analyst to get some basic background information on the web.  Even the person’s social media may convey something helpful.

2) Consider: Of course, there are people who are very skilled at using social media, with selective photos, to convey an impressive or very different image of who they really are. A social media profile can be very different from the real person.

3) Share: Before you go on the date, inform a trusted friend or family member, or better still, tell a few, that you are going on a date. You can share location, time and even who you are meeting. Adding to this, you can gently let the person you are meeting know, in a subtle fashion of course, that you’ve shared with a friend or family that you are having this date.
Showing people that you don’t know that well, that you are careful and sensible about your safety and your boundaries, may deter some inappropriate behaviour. You should also let the friend or family member know when the date is over, or if there was anything that concerned you.

4) Observe: When you meet the person, note their body language. How do they convey themselves. Eye contact and eye movement (or lack of it) can also convey a great deal.
Do they respect your physical space, or do they try to impose or dominate? Sometimes, you might not know what it is that makes you feel uncomfortable around a person. You just pick up on something strange.
See how alcohol affects them as the date progresses. Does it make them seem angrier, or possibly aggressive, or too eager for your liking.
Be mindful of the type of questions they ask and the way they ask certain questions. Yes, questions are how we get to know people but sometimes they can be used to exploit a vulnerability or to dominate. Be careful what information you give out to people you don’t know that well.

5) Listen: Note how the person tries to portray themselves. Does the narrative add up? How do they respond when you ask questions? It can take time to really get to know someone well.

6) Stay in control: Be mindful of your own alcohol consumption, especially with strangers, watch your drink very carefully; don’t expose your drink to the potential of spiking.

7) Intelligent exit: Never feel obliged to stay within the situation, especially if you feel you’re less safe after exiting a venue. Think of ways you can step away without creating provocation and ways you can get home without leaving yourself in danger. Don’t expose yourself to other forms of crime when moving about late at night.

8) Enjoy: Have a safe night but a fun one.

Act: Get in touch for a friendly chat with our team to find out how you can access our Secure Lifestyle training.

From all at UMBRA International, UMBRA Secure and the Secure Lifestyle Training Team we wish you a happy and safe Valentine’s day. Email or call us on our contacts below if you’d like any more information.

The start of any year is always a time to reflect on the last, and goal set for the next – and on that theme, we hope you enjoyed our Resolutions blog to help you start thinking more broadly about your Secure Lifestyle. However, all of us are living in uncertain times and for many of us this year holds a great deal of anxiety about the future, from soaring energy bills, to anxiety about rising food costs. 

At UMBRA HQ we believe in the power of feeling safe and feeling safe stems from being able to cover our basic needs. Security shouldn’t be the preserve of the few, it should be something we can all experience, so we’ve put together some tips to stay safe that are at zero or low cost, so you can kick-start your resolutions without it hitting your wallet.

10 steps to prepare you for the Cost of Living Secure Lifestyle journey:

• Recognise your emotions about feeling safe or unsafe in any aspect. Daily journaling can help you to start to see patterns.
• Do you feel empowered about your secure lifestyle decisions – where you go/travel to, how you live, and who is in your life? Or are you feeling like you are being held back or constrained in some way because of a fear for your or your family’s safety?
• Safety in Financial Security – review your budget (click here for budget tools) and look into details: where are you spending money?
• Check your savings– do you have enough to cover an emergency?
• Don’t judge yourself on where you are at – every journey has a start, even a Secure Lifestyle one.
• Try to ignore the noise, switch off the bad news and focus on your personal situation. Bad events have happened in the past, things will get better in the longer term. 
• Be resourceful – make the most of the online resource help that is available to you – see our Secure Lifestyle Toolkits and Bodyguard in a Bag online resources.
• Plan ahead – if you can, don’t lose sight of the future and the importance of thinking ahead for you and your family’s safety.
• Start talking to your kids about safety, including digital safety, from a very young age. 
• Always be learning – stay up to date with the best ways to stay on top of your personal security by following the UMBRA Instagram

During these hard times for so many, we thought we would give you some tips on zero-cost ways to stay safe. 5 things you can do today to keep safe at no cost.

Top 5 Cost of Living Secure Lifestyle Tips

• Community is the first line of defence: Set up your building/street/neighbourhood WhatsApp group.
• Stay in control of your digital life: Set up a Google Key Word Alert to see how your name is appearing in online searches.
• Enhance your mental well-being: Use the freemium resources on the mindfulness apps. Downloading Calm is a great first step.
• Use a VPN: Our favourite is 1.1.1.1.
• Take the UMBRA Secure Lifestyle Questionnaire by clicking here.

What to do with your Secure Lifestyle Questionnaire Results:
0-4 – Book in for our Secure Lifestyle Discovery Call
4-8 – You’re on your way, book in for a Secure Lifestyle Evaluation
8+ – All-Star Security – share this with your friends and family and help make the world a safer place and contact us to keep learning more

From all of UMBRA International, UMBRA Secure and the Secure Lifestyle Training Team

As we focus on being in the new year, here at UMBRA International, we’ve been working on unique ways to further help our clients to feel more secure and better prepared for the challenges of these times. On top of this, we want to help our clients achieve their goals and prosper. We are big advocates of the Maslow Hierarchy approach to life – giving clients a helping hand with a baseline of feeling safe in order that they can self-actualise and live their best Secure Lifestyle.

So you have thought of some resolutions you’d like to set yourself as this year begins – and that’s great, the thing is when we say to ourselves- “I am going to stop doing habit A” or “I want to be able to do X or Y within the next two months”, we can sometimes sabotage ourselves. Our subconscious can start to trigger resistance to the goals and restrictions it feels like we’ve placed on it.

Here are two Secure Lifestyle Resolution tips from our Founder & CEO Kate Bright: 1) Sit down and plot the course of the year ahead with One Year Compass 2) Think about what habits mean to you by reading James Clear’s Atomic Habits.

Here are some other pointers in our Beyond Resolutions Guide:

An expanding perspective
You are, with this approach, going beyond resolutions. You are heading to a place of steady curiosity, possibilities and expansion.

UMBRA & Resolutions
We believe your safety and security are distinctly interconnected with both your mental and physical well-being. They also connect with your ability to flow and progress in life. Progression inspires further growth and new insight.
The UMBRA International Secure Lifestyle training team can help you to expand your perspective, unveil new layers to your potential and access a special combination of expertise, knowledge and experience.
We provide training courses and friendly coaching on:

Moving with you; supporting you
The start of the year is a great time to initiate positive endeavours. It takes a readiness to act and a bit of commitment. That’s why it is good to have a dedicated team in your corner. Contact us and let’s make a plan and move forward together. Book your 30 min call here.

Here’s to an amazing year ahead from UMBRA Secure and the Training Team

The festive season will soon commence. Given what a long year this has been, invariably many will be looking forward to some celebratory events. So yes, this is the time of parties, dinners, work functions and Christmas sweaters. From the security perspective, ‘tis also the season to be vigilant…

Here are some insights from the UMBRA Secure Team:

With so much going on, you might find the month is crammed with activity. Sometimes it can even feel tiring. Don’t let fatigue cause you to drop your guard. Don’t rush around at a chaotic pace, where you compromise your awareness. Take a moment to calm yourself. breathe, centre, and activate your awareness.

When going to parties or nights out, just as Close Protection teams plan their routes ahead, you should familiarise yourself with venue locations and develop a sense of how to get there. Think of the safest routes and organise transport effectively. When moving about, try to minimise or even avoid where possible lots of time staring at your phone or an on-screen map.

Criminals use awareness too, they observe who is distracted by their tech, they see who looks vulnerable perhaps due to their body language or intoxicated state. Inside venues, one must be especially vigilant in regard to one’s drinks. Be careful of who offers you a drink and don’t leave yours exposed. Drink spiking is a very real threat, even in nice venues. In crowded or lively places, also be aware of the risk of spiking via needles or other means. Notice in nocturnal venues, how sometimes dangerous individuals or groups might start off by being friendly and inviting. Also in venues, be mindful of bag or phone snatchers. They tend to come out a lot more at this time of year.

Especially important is our route and method of getting home. This is when people sometimes compromise their safety. Be careful leaving stations or venues when it is dark or late at night. Be mindful of anyone who might be following you. Don’t hesitate to call for help if you feel something isn’t right. Criminals often tend to frequent areas where there are bars and clubs. They also spend time in expensive areas, where victims may have more wealth. Maintain vigilance even in these areas.

When moving about the city, note the behavioural indicators that convey someone may be a threat, excessive eye contact, unpredictable or intimidating body language; groups that seem to be just hanging about. If you see a potential risk in advance, you will be better at avoiding it.

Also, note that some criminals use vehicles from which to engage their selected vehicle.  Use your vigilance to spot individuals sat in cars and again keep your distance. Move with purpose and convey you are alert. At other times, study how to blend into an environment and not get noticed. UMBRA International’s urban awareness courses can also help you sharpen up and be more confident.

Before going out, assess yourself, does your jewellery, watch or bag make you stand out? Can you conceal or use coats that hide your attire? Do you have footwear that you can run in or escape trouble quickly? What story do you project – victim, easy target, vulnerable, or perhaps calm and alert?

Secure Lifestyle starts with Situational Awareness, and we help clients all year round to empower them and their families. Get in touch for more help and support.

Seasons Greetings from UMBRA Secure and the Training Team

We’ve partnered with Tatler to ensure that #everydaysecurity and #SecureLifestyle resources are available to everyone.

If you’re reading this as part of our Tatler Good Schools Guide Campaign and you’re involved in education, or you are Private Client professional working with younger clients, please call us on +442081336888 or email info@umbrainternational.com to book a discussion around our unique and award winning services providing Secure Lifestyle for the Next Generation.

Our first in our series of Secure Lifestyle Toolkit products are these handy webcam covers: a simple tool to keep you safe as you navigate your digital life. To order more please call us on +442081336888 or email info@umbrainternational.com.

User Instructions:

1. Remove double tape tabs 
2. Position the base over the camera lens and press firmly 
3. Once installed, simply slide the cover to the left to close and the right to open 

Why use an UMBRA x Tatler webcam cover?

• Cybercriminals can gain access to the webcams embedded in your devices. This means they can potentially watch, listen, and record things happening in your home.
• It’s not always obvious who’s watching. Cybercriminals are often able to turn off the LED light that comes on when your webcam is in use, meaning you aren’t always safe when you think you are.
• With a wireless camera, the associated IP address and password could potentially be hacked or guessed at. This leaves them open to access by a nefarious party.
• With a built-in camera, your device is the entry point for criminals looking to gain access. Using malware or a virus, cybercriminals can use your webcam to see into your private spaces.

Our #SecureLifestyle webcam tips:

• Use the UMBRA x TATLER webcam cover to ensure that there is a physical barrier between your camera and your space when you’re not using it.
• Make sure you have a firewall running on all of your devices to prevent  malware.
• Ensure you’re using antivirus software that’s up to date.
• Continually update your operating system – this ensures any access risks are patched.
• Don’t open suspicious emails, links or attachments.

For any help or support with the above, do get in touch on +442081336888 or email info@umbrainternational.com.

We love seeing your Secure Lifestyle Toolkit products in actio – feel free to snap a picture, follow and tag us @umbrainternational.com and use the hashtag #SecureLifestyle.

We give away a laptop privacy screen every month to one of our followers and subscribers to our newsletter. Sign up below to enter:

UMBRA CEO Kate Bright was honoured to be invited back to Burgess Hill Girls School on Friday 8^th July 2022 to deliver the end of term Founders’ Day speech and give out prizes. Head teacher Mrs Laybourne was celebrating her last Founders’ Day after many years at the school, including Kate’s tenure as a student from 1990-1997.

Highlights from her speech include:

“There is something really nostalgic and special about being invited back to my old school where I joined in 1990 as music scholar, and left as Yeats House Captain in 1997 – Yeats now having been renamed as ‘Williams’ House, named after one of my favourite tennis players.

“I am really honoured to be here today to speak to you all. What makes it even more special is being here for Mrs Laybourn’s farewell. Believe it or not, Mrs Laybourn used to “encourage” a 14-year-old me to go cross-country running in freezing temperatures and attempt to direct a hockey ball in the vague direction of the goal. All that sports training with Mrs Laybourn came full circle at the Brighton Marathon in April of this year, when, at mile 23 as I crawled to the end, she caught me at a vulnerable moment where I felt a mixture of exhaustion and elation – and that was when she asked me to talk to you all today.

“I’ve been asked to talk about Embracing Change. So, I’d like to share with you 3 significant times of change in my life that has taken me to where I am today. They’ve also been significant in helping me develop my life’s mantra: which is “Look within. Look beyond. Look around.“.

I’m going to take you back now to 1997 when none you were born! One of my first experiences of embracing change came when I didn’t get into my first choice of University. I’d worked hard, but 2 years of illness and surgery 6 weeks before my exams, meant I didn’t get the grades to get into my first choice – Leeds University. At the time I was devasted by the enforced change of another university, but this change led to one of the most challenging and exciting adventures of my life.

“My French course at Royal Holloway, University of London included the opportunity, to spend time on the idyllic tropical island of La Reunion in the middle of the Indian Ocean, which just happens to be a part of France! It was one of the most exciting experiences of my life. And still today, I have many lifelong friends, contacts, and connections from the unexpected turn my life took at that time. Reflecting back, I realise I learnt many other things through this enforced change : determination, focus, standing my ground, saying ‘no’ when needed, accepting the help of others, and perhaps most importantly, self-care – looking after my own physical and mental fitness and building strength and resilience in both. This was the start of my first lifelong mantra – LOOK WITHIN.

“Now I’m going to take you to 2001 (still most of you were not born then either!). After university I became a Personal and Executive Assistant for wealthy, high profile families (including / well known TV presenters and business leaders) eventually becoming a Chief of Staff. This was like being the CEO of a company, where I had to oversee all aspects of my clients’ life, and manage those who worked for them, including those charged with their security. Little did I know at that time, the huge change that was on the horizon. I had the opportunity to do some training which for me, was transformational. It culminated in 2013 with undertaking my Close Protection license training – Bodyguarding to you and me. It also started me on a journey of personal development and lifelong learning, something I truly believe is key to being able to embrace change with enthusiasm and positivity.

“If you’d said to me, sat where you are sat now, that I would have spent last 10 years working as a female bodyguard, set up my own international business, employ people, challenge the norm in an industry that is seen as stereotypically male, deliver a Ted talk about female bodyguards in a man’s world, and become a Chartered Security Professional, as well as progress through the ranks of my industry Livery company to become a Liveryman of the City of London, I would have laughed at you. And I would have laughed too at the fact that the honour of being a Liveryman also allows me the ancient privilege of being able to drive sheep across Tower Bridge!

“What is the part of my life mantra that ties this all together? It is the LOOK BEYOND part. Never stop learning – it is what will bring surprise, success, and joy to your life. And few of us might know what that direction will be. As an 18-year-old I had little idea what I was going to ‘do when I grow up’ going other than from studying French at Uni… and that’s fine too. My advice – just don’t stop LOOKING BEYOND to open yourself up to learning opportunities as they come along.

“And this brings me to the third and final part of my mantra – LOOK AROUND and a more recent experience of embracing change – one enforced upon all of us, one way and another, by the Covid pandemic. So, imagine me, in January 2020 with business booming. I had a beautifully written 5-year business plan that saw international expansion and a huge contract that would take us to the next level as a business. Well, I don’t need to tell you what happened next. With a world suddenly locking down and a contract pulled, I had to draw on all my resources.

“What did this teach me? The power of looking around. Like everyone else, I had no clue what lay ahead when the government restrictions kicked in. I had to look after my team, myself, and my family, without any idea of what I was really doing. After doing some of the usual things like baking banana bread and doing an online family quiz (which I won!), I sat down at the end of March 2020, at my newly christened ‘home working station’, and thought, ‘the one thing that’s still out there are all the people I know and work with’.

“So, I sent an email to every single person in my immediate professional network with two simple questions – ‘how are you? and how can I help you?’. This not only served to start conversations that I will never forget, share highs and lows with my team, and work relentlessly to provide support to our clients, it also enabled me to rework my 5 year business plan more logically, to explore new ventures, and even more exciting opportunities.

“One of the few certainties in life is that Change is inevitable. So go out there and embrace it with open arms. And remember when change leaves you feeling unsettled or overwhelmed, LOOK WITHIN yourselves prioritizing mental and physical fitness , LOOK BEYOND your current situation and grasp those opportunities to learn and grow and LOOK AROUND to find friends, family and colleagues who will support you on your journey.”

The workplace is like a microcosm of society at large. A cross-section of individuals reflecting the hierarchical opinions and attitudes that swirl around in the world outside, and sadly this means for many within the LGBTQIA+ communities that they face the same bias and exclusion within the workplace as they do outside of it. Therefore, it is an employer’s responsibility to proactively take control of their environment, to ensure it is an inclusive, diverse and comfortable place to be.

Study after study show clear results that a happy employee is a productive employee, and a productive employee creates a harmonious work environment, and harmony and productivity strengthen a business both financially and structurally.

It’s Pride month and we wanted to dig in, understand what our candidates and clients were thinking, and make sure that every month stays Pride month, so we asked some of our candidates, clients and friends from the LGBTQIA+ community – from Chief of Staff and Management to security personnel, for their feedback on a few questions relating to their experience whilst looking for work. The answers come from a variety of individuals who were kind enough to share their thoughts and experiences.

What kind of support would you appreciate from prospective employers when it comes to the interview process?

Having a potential employer state in their pre-interview correspondence (usually email) their diversity policies and making a point to say that they consider diversity an important part of their business is always a nice/comforting thing to experience. And, …..having them state ‘please let us know which pronouns and names you wish for us to use should they be different from any of our previous correspondence’ would be a hugely comforting thing to do.

When applying for a job, do you find that the application forms are fully inclusive for you as an individual? If not, please share what can be changed.

When it comes to the ‘gender’ box, I prefer using a box marked ‘self-described’, where I would then say ‘I live and work between both traditional genders’. Not every application form offers this however, in which I just use ‘choose not to disclose or similar’.

Are there any dos/don’ts when a newly introduced person is asking about your preferred pronouns/name?

I think as long as it’s asked in a sensitive but straightforward way, then all good. For example ‘Which pronouns would you like me to use when referring to you’? is perfectly ok.

Does your job search take place outside of the standard job portals/pages we are all familiar with, somewhere specific that you go to find jobs that are specifically LGBTQIA+ friendly?

Social media, certain platforms that filter applications that are specifically skewed towards different identity markers. Instagram is really good for that, there are pages that are dedicated to that….exists on Twitter as well and then also word of mouth.

Have you ever been asked for feedback from prospective employers on what your experience looking for work has been like?

We received a unanimous no to this question.

What could you advise an employer/recruiter on to make you feel respected and truly included?

Reference diversity and inclusion and state clearly that this is a safe space for LGBTQIA applicants. That would be a good start and would make most people feel much more included and respected than they otherwise would.

In terms of signs of inclusivity, what do you look for in a new company when you’re considering joining?

Their commitment to sustainability, their marketing and how they brand themselves, the imagery that they use, their visuals, i.e the identities and people that I see in their images. Seeing how many people of colour, or queer people, or other marginalised identities are in leadership or management positions. It’s also an energetic thing when I’m speaking to people – I’m gauging are they good listeners, active listening is the core of inclusivity…The moment I walk into a building, how am I welcomed, how am I received, what the culture of the company is, how do people relate with each other within the company. What kind of programmes that they have in place, wellbeing, any consideration for different identities…or what support do they have for new parents, new carers….are there considerations for different lived experiences….if I can see a company that is widening their outlook on how to accommodate their workplace for different identities, welcoming and celebrating these identities, … if not then it’s a red flag.

Here at UMBRA we wanted to look at ways that we can show our continued support for our LGBTQIA+ candidates, so with the feedback that we received, we spoke with our software partners Insightly to discuss what their approach to ensuring a fully inclusive range of identity options was. We wanted to make sure our candidates have their details stored and their job searches optimised, so that we are enabling all those who work with us to have equal opportunity in line with our EDI (Equality, Diversity & Inclusion) policy. For those interested in what such a policy looks like, you can have a read here.

Chip House when you were creating Insightly what discussions and considerations did you have to make sure you were inclusive, and what changes or adaptions have you recently made or are in the process of implementing in relation to inclusivity?

“As a company, we are celebrating Pride Month with a range of programming, informational resources, and activities. For instance, a guest speaker and a Pride trivia event were held, in addition to providing resources and promoting use of gender-neutral language. We also amplified the voices of the LGBTQIA+ community in a blog post.”

“Thousands of companies around the world use Insightly to operate every day. We purposefully make Insightly a system that is easily customisable and can integrate with other systems so that when customers want to adapt their systems to new ways of doing business, it’s simple and doesn’t require a costly integrator or consultant. Creating new fields, updating existing ones to provide more options and respond to changing needs in your customer base…these are all possible with an open, flexible system like Insightly.”

Understanding that the options offered within our CRM systems are supportive to our candidates and providing our internal team with an awareness and transparency to better support our candidates and clients is a small starting point. Diversity and inclusivity aren’t achieved overnight, but researching and educating ourselves and our company, putting the correct policies in place, having open conversations with new candidates and existing employees, as well as having discussions with our suppliers, are a few of the basics to then build on.

Having intentional conversations and actively listening and including the LGBTQIA+ community in our journey is an important way of creating understanding and connection. Not acknowledging or being silent on the matter of allyship is a misplaced display of support. This often comes from the fear of not wanting to cause offence, however, it then closes the opportunity for an open space for dialogue and expression, and the erasure of the LGBTQIA+ experience within the workplace. With this in mind, we have encouraged the use of including our own pronouns within our email signatures to encourage a normalisation and support in stating them. 

Growth and development are a continuous journey, and as we pride ourselves on finding the best, most trusted teams for our private clients, we have made a commitment alongside our EDI policy to annually review our policies and processes to ensure that we are truly being inclusive. Part of the way we will be doing this is through educational workshops, exploring more comprehensively how we can as a company educate ourselves thoroughly and implement further practices that show our support.

In summary

• Show your support for Pride ALL year-round, state your intentions and how you show your support, making inclusivity part of your brand.
• Review company culture. Provide training and put in place comprehensive and transparent policies and follow through with necessary changes.
• Use gender-neutral language in recruitment
• Ask for honest feedback from candidates on their experience and include your own staff in this too. Make this a safe space for communication, including potentially negative responses.
• Broaden your standard recruitment search to find a more diverse talent pool. Advertise on specific LGBTQIA+ job boards/social media pages.
• Make it clear in the job description that all gender identities and sexual orientations are welcome to the position.

With thanks to our contributors; Chris Cook, Tom/Sophie, Seda Yildiz and Chip House.

Written by Kim Garrett

UMBRA International Group founder and CEO Kate Bright was invited to join the Women in Disputes panel, hosted by Raedas and held in the AllBright Members’ Club in Mayfair, London.

Speaking alongside Gita Trevorrow-Seymour, founder and MD of High Definition You, Kate gave insight into embracing “discomfort” zones and how to forge ahead in a career without fear.

Of the event, Kate said: “It was incredible to see so many women working in law attend at the wonderful AllBright Club to hear myself and Gita speak. I shared the difficulties and successes I have encountered during my career, and I felt privileged to be invited to reflect on this key topic to such an interactive and engaged audience.”

“As women, we often neglect to invest back into ourselves, our careers and our skills. I believe in investing 10% of your salary, your business turnover, or your profit into self-development to help propel your career and bolster your position as a woman in business.”

Chartered Security Professional and CEO of UMBRA International Group, Kate Bright, has been appointed to the Board of the Security Industry Authority (SIA). A position granted by the UK Home Office, Kate will occupy a governance role, providing insight and support for inclusion and diversity in the security industry.

Of her appointment, Kate said:

“This is a role that I undertake with the commitment to listening and the openness to learning that I feel it deserves.  

I want to thank everyone who has supported this next chapter of my journey in my mission to make the Security Industry even more accessible. I’m really excited be a part of promoting opportunities for all, and continuing to grow UMBRA International Group and its Secure Lifestyle offering to put my learnings into action.“