Executive Protection – Its Smart Business Insurance

Early in 2015, I had the pleasure of meeting Giorgio Bereti.  A tall, handsome, well dressed man fitting the description of a protective services agent, he showed up at the Calgary airport to greet me.  Always a watchful eye and ear, Giorgio presents a restful sense of security.  As we travelled into the city he shared with me his vision for executive safety and its importance in the new era of global oil and gas business.

The energy industry is world wide, it’s transient and it’s all encompassing.  CEO’s, executives, management and energy industry leaders are often in Abu Dhabi one day and Houston the next.   Then it’s off to Aberdeen and then to Stavanger.  From there it could be Nigeria and then over to Newfoundland.  It’s pretty common in the oil and gas industry to hop around energy cities because expanding into new oil and gas markets is the name of the game.

Is business development, on the global scene, going to increase?  You bet!  And are there risks along the way?  Indeed.  Responding to this global oil and gas development has an entirely new level of executive protection arising.  It’s an intricate and detailed business, some may even say it’s an art!

Giorgio Bereti, who is the Chief Operating Officer of Convoy World Wide in Calgary, Alberta explains the dynamics of his team and how they support executive protection, “Our team has a well-deserved reputation of excellence in providing smart and secure protective services and solutions for our clients.  Each VIP Personal Protector brings a dynamic set of skills.  At Convoy World Wide, our VIP PP&T come from Law Enforcement, Secret Service, Army, Special Forces and Intelligence communities.  In this business, often, more than one area of expertise is required with protective service and that’s what we strive for in our teams.”

Often referred to as close personal protection, security measures taken to ensure the safety of individuals who may be exposed to elevated personal risk is becoming more and more a necessity.  Because of employment positions, industry dynamics, travelling to regions with political unrest, industrial espionage, and other safety considerations this sector is as important as other safety measures such as driving safety, work place safety and operational safety.  It’s a lot like insurance as well.  Having protection for executives is much like steel workers wearing safety gear, it’s all relative and it’s all designed to mitigate risks in the appropriate ways.

Executives don’t need to be paranoid about protection but they do need to be responsible and take protective measures that will ensure their own safety and protect the companies they work for.  Loss of executive life through business operations is something that nobody can afford.

Protection offerings include home security, bodyguards, armoured vehicles and vehicle scramble plans, mail screening, private jet travel, background checks for other employees, and other precautions. Executive protection may also provide security for immediate and/or extended family members to prevent kidnapping and extortion in extreme cases.

Executive protection companies provide a range of options and solutions from protection team members such as: the Detail Leader, Assistant Detail Leader (Detail Manager), Tactical Commander, Motorcade Lead, Advance Lead, Mobile Agent, Static Agent, and Protective Intelligence Agent.  Security measures most often provide private, corporate and government clients with an extensive range of specialty services at the highest level of confidentiality, integrity and professionalism.  It’s a highly complex business with many tiers and strategies each customized to meet clients’ goals and destinations.

When I last saw Giorgio, he said, “Tina let’s hope you never need me”.  That made me smile. Before I met Giorgio I didn’t think too much about executive protection, but now it seems to make all the sense in the world.  World travellers, especially executives in the oil and gas industry, need world wide protection—it’s a wise move.

To learn more about executive protection speak to Giorgio at www.convoyww.com