Saladin provides professional advice in various areas of risk management, helping create effective ways to overcome security threats and challenges that effect operations in complex environments.
Strategic Security Advice
Saladin assists companies, governments and organisations operating in complex environments, by assessing and reducing risk through measured analysis and processes. Our approach is focused to capacity build at the senior decision-making level, to enable clients to understand their critical risks, identify priorities, and make informed choices about where to invest resources to manage and reduce those risks.
Saladin’s long experience in unstable and volatile parts of the world provides us with a unique capability to support our clients at a strategic level in these environments.
Surveys and Assessments
Physical and technical security assessments can be carried out on residential and commercial premises, for individuals, organisations or insurers. Detailed reports will be produced with clear recommendations for security improvements balanced against the specific threat environment.
As part of this wider offering, Health and safety and environment (HSE) assessments can be conducted by qualified staff, in order to implement appropriate management systems. These are guided by risk assessments, job safety analysis, awareness training, audits, corrective action and continuous improvement.
Crisis Management
Saladin has great experience designing crisis management programmes, and in advising during the course of a crisis.
Effective crisis management involves implementing pre-planned and rehearsed procedures in order to provide maximum duty of care to the staff involved and to resume normal operations as quickly as possible with the least possible impact. All contingencies can be planned for, from fire damage to terrorist attacks and by having an up-to-date and validated contingency plan, organisations can minimise the losses caused by a crisis.
The Saladin crisis planning team works with the client to assess the company’s areas of vulnerability, agree on the corporate aims and objectives, identify potential participants and their agendas, prepare and rehearse contingency plans, and allocate resources.
Based on our extensive experience in crisis management, we assist in advising on the best structure of a crisis management team and draw up a comprehensive crisis management plan to deal with a wide range of scenarios. Our perspective is strategic, spanning organisational readiness, prevention, response and recovery, and in this context, we develop detailed incident management plans.
Kidnap/hijacking, ransom and extortion, response and mediation
With over 40 years’ of experience, Saladin has the specialist capability of providing kidnap prevention and kidnap response services. The key element in this is the deployment of highly qualified, professional and resourceful men and women. These advisers respond to assist during negotiations and in the design and implementation of loss prevention programmes.
Saladin also deals with extortion incidents, deploying a member of the global team of consultants to advise and support a client through a wide range of extortion situations.
The Background
Kidnapping and extortion have been occurring throughout recorded history. Lloyd’s started issuing Kidnap and Ransom policies after the tragic kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby in 1932. It was however not until after the epochal year of 1968 that terrorists began to use kidnapping as a standard tactic to obtain funds and to generate publicity. Criminal gangs followed their lead when they saw the potential for rich returns.
Initially, no ancillary services existed to assist insured persons to reduce their risk exposure, or to advise on the conduct of negotiations after a kidnap. This changed when in 1975 Saladin’s Chairman (as he is today), founded the first structured service to assist both insured and uninsured clients, working in particular with the leading Lloyd’s underwriter at the time. He and his colleagues devised and codified the procedures and coercive bargaining techniques that have today become widely accepted as standard operating procedures.
The Operatives
Saladin’s advisers normally come from a background of a senior position in the British diplomatic or military service; and have been specifically trained in negotiation and management procedures during a crisis. They are therefore men of presence and gravitas, which are essential attributes to give confidence and reassurance to clients. They are fluent in the languages of the countries in which they operate and have great experience from previous incidents, and knowledge of those countries.
