Tell us who you are and what you do?

Our Names are Meg and Brooke Cryer, We are the Security and Operations Managers for Rocket Security. We’ve been working for Rocket within these roles for around 7 years. Throughout that time we have started working with Escape records as their sole security provider in South Wales.

What made you want to be part of the industry?

I think what made us want to be part of the private security sector was parental influence. Both of our parents worked in the metropolitan police for over 30 years and then our Dad then opened Rocket Security. Over the past few years both myself and Meg have taken the business in a direction where we believe we can expand, and also for what interests us as individuals. We believe there is great reward in this industry and that is something we thrive off, whether it may be helping individuals such as event goers or providing local jobs in our communities.

What’s it’s like being a woman in the security industry?

Being females in this industry can be hugely rewarding, I think the main issue is that a lot of young women would never think of getting into security because it’s seen as such a male dominated industry. We try to recruit a diverse work force and I would say around 25% of our safety stewards and Security Industry Authority (SIA) officers are female which is huge compared to the uk female SIA licence holders only being around 12%. We do think that having the majority of our management team being female does make our company more appealing for other female SIA, which personally I think is a positive for the future of our industry.

Are there any challenges you face being a woman in the industry?

We would be lying if we said there wasn’t challenges with working in such a male dominated industry as both females and both mid- twenties. I think the security stereotype will continue for many years, but I like the element of surprise when I turn up for meetings as a security manager as you’re never what someones expecting.

I think if you carry yourself with confidence then that’s when you can thrive in this industry. Once you overcome that stereotype, having females in your core team is so important for jobs such as searching, dealing with vulnerable people, diffusing aggressive characteristics etc. This is in no way deterring from the fact we need male SIA, but an equal work force is essential for the future of the private security sector.

What’s your favourite thing about doing the job you do?

Our favourite part of being security managers is the ability to create an enjoyable work space for people in this industry. Over the past few years we’ve tried to go above and beyond to help our team both in their personal lives and during work hours, this has then created our reputation as a well respected security firm, a huge priority for us is to build on our Dad’s efforts and to be able to make Rocket a success as a reflection of his hard work.

A new security team is just one of the changes we’ve made for 2024, you can read about more here.