The Panic Room Company are pleased to announce that we will be exhibiting at IDET (International Exhibition of Defence and Security Technologies). We are there in support of our Czech Agent . We will be on Stand 020, Pavilion P, for the duration of the exhibition. Anyone wishing to visit the stand are more than welcome…see you there!!
Watch out for The Panic Room Company editorial and advert in the Sunday Telegraph this week, which is in comjunction with our agent SPS Global. The article illustrates why panic rooms are no longer the preserve of the weathy elite and the growing need to protect the ones you love
Independent global risk consultancy, Control Risks, last month released its top ten kidnap destinations for the wealthy. Latin America is no longer the global “bad boy” and the Panic Room Company is taking note.
Steve Brook, Sales Director of UK-based Panic Room Company, comments, “According to Control Risks, in 2003 65% of kidnappings for ransom took place in Latin America but by 2011 that had dropped to 25%. Meanwhile Africa and the Middle East leapt from 5% to 35% for the same period, with Nigeria emerging as the country HNWs are most likely to be kidnapped in. Asia and Pacific also jumped from 19% to 37%. As these areas get wealthier, individuals are at greater risk, and our Panic Rooms become a must-have.”
With aid staff, construction workers and those in mining amongst the most at-risk, periods of kidnap captivity can range from express abductions where individuals are marched to cash points to withdraw their own ransoms to several hundred days at the mercy of their captors who can demand bounties up to millions of dollars. The installation of a household Panic Room could completely eliminate this horrific risk.
Steve continues, “We work with security advisors to HNWs across the globe and they are seeing that aggressors specifically want people to be at home so they can hold family members as means of extortion to open tricky high specification safes. There is also a changing perception as to what is ‘valuable’ – information held on computers and smart phones can be of greater value in the wrong hands than material items. Humans will always be the weakest point in any security situation and are the most vulnerable. Our Panic Rooms provide an additional layer of protection to people living in these high risk areas and give peace of mind that they will be hidden away in a sanctuary within their home or office out of reach of kidnappers.”
The Panic Room Company continued its world “reveal” this month, this time in association with its Finnish dealer, FSM Group, at the Safety & Security Fair 2012 in Tampere. Once again, client and media interest was considerable.
Harri af Hallstrom, CEO of 20-year established FSM Group, had this to say, “At the Show we built a mock-up property demonstrating all kinds of security solutions and at the heart of the stand was the Panic Room. This was the first time a safe room of this kind had been exhibited in Finland and, as expected, visitors were highly intrigued and it became the main attraction. Serious enquiries came from the Armed Forces, Intelligence Service, National Bureau of Investigation alongside security, cash management, transport and insurance companies. The visual impact of the Panic Room brought us great success at the Show and we’re looking forward to following-up these leads.”
Running from 5 to 7 September at Finland’s Tampere Exhibition and Sports Centre, this 13th edition of the Show gathered together top security industry professionals and was the most extensive trade fair of its kind in the Nordic countries. Focussing on rescue operations, workplace safety and security management alongside numerous seminars and presentations, the Show covered three exhibition halls with 260 exhibitors featuring more than 350 categories of products. Across the three days, a total of 11,235 visitors came through the doors.
As at SICUR 2012 in Madrid, where almost every national TV and newspaper outlet covered the Panic Room, press attention at Finland was substantial. Reporters came to the stand asking for detailed information on the Room’s ballistic rating, connectivity and diverse usage. The product headlined many an ensuing article on the Safety & Security Fair.
About the Panic Room – Cost-effective and practical, the Panic Room is a safe last point of defence and can be specified to withstand mechanical attacks, shotgun fire and more powerful weapon attacks. Each unit can be adapted to various levels of connectivity to complementary devices such as alarm systems, smoke screens or security cameras. The Panic Room can be installed in half a day with minimal manpower, no welding equipment needed, and be disguised to unobtrusively blend in with any environment. Although the time spent within is likely to be minimal, the Panic Room is comfortable and sustainable with external ventilation and air filtration, breathing equipment, lighting, back-up power supplies, fresh water and basic toilets all part of the concept.
Since launch mid-2011, the Panic Room Company has been busy in discussion with the commercial and leisure shipping industries, international embassies in volatile cities and diamond dealers in South Africa, but one market that’s rapidly emerging closer to home is private property in the UK.
Steve Brook, Business Development Director for the Panic Room Company, shares his thoughts, “Whilst we always had high net worth individuals at risk from attack in mind for the Panic Room, demand from various overseas governments and industries has tended to dominate. But, the tide is turning back in favour of private property installations in the UK. Some burglars are now actually waiting for residents to be at home rather than out so they can use extortion on family members to gain easier access to valuables, personal documents and sensitive data. People have a natural instinct to do all they can to protect loved ones so are turning to the Panic Room Company for help.”
Panic Rooms are already pretty widespread amongst the super wealthy. Heath Hall, a 100 million pound mega mansion that just went on the market in London’s Hampstead, has a steel-walled dressing room off its master suite with its own toilet facilities, control panel and telephone line with wires that cannot be cut. The footballing fraternity is also a fan of the Panic Room as their extravagant homes, ostentatious supercars and designer jewellery are constantly splashed over the tabloid press. A would-be assailant only needs to grab a fixture list to figure out when the man of the house is out at work – leaving their partners, children and possessions exposed. A Panic Room becomes essential.
A new trend is a trickle down to the more ‘ordinary’ family. Steve continues, “We’ve recently worked with a semi-retired self-employed builder in his early 60s of good standing and reasonable wealth. A year previously, opportunist thugs kicked down the door of his Midlands home in the middle of the night and, with no time to alert the police, he was badly beaten in the incident. The perpetrators left with minimal valuables but he and his wife were considerably shaken by the attack. He opted to install a Panic Room, costing 45,000 pounds, in his property within easy reach of the master bedroom suite.”
“The Panic Room is fully connected via a panic button to the gentleman’s alarm company,” says Steve, “Simply by pressing the button, they know that it is an incident serious enough to call the police and automatically do so. Via a monitor, the alarm company is able to see the Panic Room occupants and communicate to offer reassurance. External household security cameras can also be controlled from the Panic Room. Our client’s feeling is, had he had this safe room a year ago, they would have been able to barricade themselves in and sound the alarm before the thugs had a chance to exert physical violence. A bonus is that they have a villa in southern Spain for extended holidays so all the valuables, jewellery, small antiques and paintings go in the Panic Room while they are away. Not only are they safe from burglary but also protected in the event of fire or flood damage.”
The conclusion is that even if you install security gates, video entry and CCTV, if someone’s determined to break in, they will. All those intruders who have attacked or threatened the homes of Premiership stars such as Kuyt, Crouch, Heskey, Gerrard, in the past, have evaded extensive security systems in order to do so. You can’t eliminate 100% of risk, only upwards of 90%, which is why a Panic Room as a last resort safe haven becomes a real life saver if things get violent – as they sadly sometimes do.
About The Panic Room Company – The Panic Room is a safe last point of defence and can be specified to withstand powerful weapon attacks. The unit is portable, easily installed in half a day and can be connected to complementary security devices such as alarms and cameras. The environment is comfortable and sustainable with air filtration, back-up power, fresh water and basic toilets.
The Panic Room Company will be continuing its world “reveal”, this time in association with our Finnish dealer, FSM Group, at the Safety & Security Fair 2012 in September.
Running from 5 to 7 September at Finland’s Tampere Exhibition and Sports Centre, this, the 13th edition of the Show, gathers together top security industry professionals and is the most extensive trade fair of its kind in the Nordic countries. The focus is on rescue operations, workplace safety and security management with numerous seminars and presentations planned to update attendees on the latest technology in the industry.
The Panic Room Company is delighted to be working alongside security specialists FSM Group who have been established over 20 years and are leaders in a range of security devices and systems with exemplary technical support and back-up.
The Panic Room Company are pleased to sponsor the pupils of Westbourne School in their successful conquer of Mount Kilimanjaro
Having already presented itself to the European and South African markets, the Panic Room Company enjoyed its first foray into Latin America this month at the EXPOSEC International Security Fair in Sao Paolo, Brazil – the world’s fifth largest security show.
Teaming up with Sao Paolo-based security solutions experts, Grasp, the Panic Room Company was demonstrated to a wide range of potential customers and distributors throughout the three day show and interest was once again considerable.
Grasp’s owner, Denis Frate, had this to say, “The Panic Room Company dovetails perfectly with one of our key products – Smoke Cloak. We can connect this to the Panic Room intruder alarm system and immediately inject a dense fog into the protected area making it impossible for assailants to see. This exhibition was the perfect platform for launch as the security industry is booming in Brazil. The market for electronic security systems is growing on average 11% per year and rising incomes alongside rising crime in large cities is fuelling this expansion. Brazil is also preparing for huge security tests in the shape of FIFA World Cup 2014 and the Olympics in 2016 with new techniques and new technologies being adopted nationwide.”
EXPOSEC 2012 welcomed 1,100 brands represented by 700 national and international exhibitors across a venue of 30,000m². Geared to professionals working in security, public and private, the event displayed everything from safes to security doors, tracking devices to perimeter monitoring. Running simultaneously was a special exhibition of arms, ammunition and other weapons – another ideal marketplace for the Panic Room. Organisers reported more than 30,000 attendees and a business forecast of 500 million dollars.
After a chance meeting at the annual ADS Security & Policing dinner, the Panic Room Company has secured a working collaboration with CCD, a specialist London-based design consultancy that puts the science of ergonomics and human factors into the heart of complex buildings – the Panic Room being the perfect complex candidate.
Steve Brook, Business Development Director for the Panic Room Company, comments, “Whilst the Panic Room is seen as a temporary refuge and time spent within is likely to be minimal due to the hi-tech connectivity to the ‘outside’ world and rescue services, it is nonetheless important that occupants feel comfortable. CCD has made it its business to assess how humans interact psychologically in confined spaces without natural light and, for us, their expertise is invaluable. Together we are now creating ergonomic and aesthetic concept Panic Room interiors which help minimize stress whilst remaining functional. It’s a very intricate and interesting process.”
CCD has designed specialised working environments for over 30 years including those for the emergency services, the security industry and the military sector. For example, in the design and layout of command vehicles, CCD has faced the twin challenges of confined spaces and large quantities of equipment. The systematic approach used here can be adapted and applied to the Panic Room.
John Wood, Executive Chairman for CCD explains, “Our design philosophy is very much human-centric and we believe that any built environment has to serve the people it was intended for. With the Panic Room, the occupants will be under stress as they imagine the threat on the other side of the steel and it is our forte to minimise this negative impact. Similarly, by applying human modelling techniques, we can ensure that every cubic centimetre within the Panic Room is optimally used – from storage to bunk beds, kitchenettes to washbasins. By refining the interior of these safe rooms, we’re adding real value to the product.”
CCD works as a multidisciplinary team using experts in psychology, ergonomics, interior design, nutrition, lighting, acoustics and CAD modelling. With this team approach, specialist lighting can combine with careful use of interior finishes and colours to mitigate feelings of claustrophobia in a windowless environment occupied by susceptible individuals. And, fortunate for the Panic Room Company, with a track record of over 375 successful command centre commissions undertaken in the UK and overseas, CCD has the world leading team in this area.
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