Hosted by Michael Portillo and widely regarded as the security industry’s premier event, the IFSEC Security Industry Awards is both a celebration and acknowledgement of excellence of innovations influencing and shaping the industry and security professionals.

 The close working relationship between Suffolk Constabulary and Ipswich Central was deemed worthy of nomination by David Kane at Suffolk Constabulary for the Ipswich Central Community Safety Accreditation Scheme. He commented “We felt it important that the team work between Ipswich Central and Suffolk Police was recognised beyond our own town boundaries. Ipswich Central provides a great town centre community service which complements the service provided by the Police. This service includes; a five-strong Street Ranger team,  Sherlock -  a real-time crime database; a town centre business exclusion scheme for repeat offenders; the Radiolink service which incorporates over 150 users and the Childsafe scheme.

 Ipswich Central is a Business Improvement District (BID) which is a business driven, flexible funding scheme designed to manage and improve a clearly defined area, namely Ipswich town centre. A key area of operation for the BID is Safety and Security for businesses and users of the town centre.

Clare Bagley, Business Co-ordinator for Ipswich Central enthused “we were so pleased to be nominated by the Police for this Award and to be one of the national finalists is a real honour. It is vital that we work well with the Police as shared information is key to the safety and security of the businesses and visitors in the town.  We are therefore really pleased that the Police have acknowledged how well the two organisations interact, at every level”.