Fraser One, Fraser One, This is Control...
Following on from the meeting in London of all the heads of departments, there was something niggling me about the partially whispered words of the Director of Security as I left…and continued to nudge my thoughts for the next 6 months.
As we neared Easter and received the results of our store audit, again showing for a fifth year running we had kept shrinkage down to around 2%, we were running on a high. Other Security teams around the City looked to us for advice and support and hey, it felt good.
On this particular day, I remember retiring to my office to work through some of the daily paperwork.
“Fraser One [my in-store call sign], Fraser One, this is Control, are you receiving?” my radio crackled into life and as was normally the case, I expected to be deploying to some incident or assisting with cash movements…
“Fraser One to Control, go ahead”
“Fraser One, you have a visitor, please meet him at the loading bay doors”
Now visits from the police or other security teams were never unusual…but I had a feeling something was different this time as usually, the loading bay people would radio that through…
So, down to the loading bay not knowing who to expect.
Parked across the open bay doors was a substantial-looking Mercedes…
The Director of Security, visiting from London…hmmmm.
After the customary greeting and handshake, he asked if we could go and speak in my office. This already felt bad!
He took a seat on one side of my desk and motioned for me to sit also.
And so it began…
“Firstly, this meeting is a difficult one for me. When talking to one of the top performing teams under my direction, and you have changed the face of losses in this store beyond expectations…”
Hmmmm…
“At the meeting last year, I gave you a small hint of changes coming…and now…they are here. The company has decided to outsource security service and centralise management…there is no easy way to put this but…your position is now redundant and with immediate effect…sorry”.
Long silence…my mind racing and a sense of disbelief.
“Outsourced? Redundant? What about the team?”
“Yes…and the team will have the opportunity to be taken over by the incoming company….not something I agree with and being that you are the Manager and have “all access” the terms of your redundancy are that you leave the store today”.
The bottom had dropped out of my world again.
And sure enough, having handed in my keys and radio, he escorted me from the premises. As I walked through the store, I could feel the staff eyeing me with wonder…possibly thinking ”Oh, what has HE done?”
At the staff door, the Director shook my hand, apologised again and informed me the appropriate 5-year redundancy payment would be processed swiftly and wished me well.
Returning to the flat I now shared with my girlfriend, I really couldn’t think what to do next but had small comfort in knowing the redundancy would at least give me a few months of support whilst I made yet another pivot in my life.
My girlfriend eventually came home from work and rumours had been a plenty.
Once she knew the facts, she was shocked about the situation but also immediately offered to try and get more hours at work to help support us.
Of course, I was not one to sit back and do nothing and told her not to worry and that I would find something.
Looking forward, I also said that as soon as I gained new employment we would get a proper house together and I said “We will stop heating the streets of Hull”.
She looked at me quizzically…”What does that mean?”
I pointed to the bay windows which were not in a great state of repair (the landlord was “nice” but not proactive at maintenance).
“Every time we put the fire on, I reckon 60% of the heat goes straight out of there!” a little injection of humour to lighten the mood, but of course, we were both pretty worried how things would go.
Time to start scanning the job columns again…registering with the Job Centre and Recruitment Agencies.
The next day I visited the Job Centre in order to get “on the books”. In honesty, they were not too helpful as they knew I would be getting a redundancy payment and would not be entitled to any support payments.
“I am not looking for dole money, I am looking for another job!”
“Well, pop yourself downstairs and have a look at the job cards on the wall there, good luck” at which he called over the next person in line.
There have been several times in my life when I have had the misfortune to be in need of advice or assistance from the state resources and this visit alone has been a common reflection of their response. Pen-pushing and ticking boxes to maintain their statistics…my experience, I know, but I have always jumped through the necessary hoops to “do the right thing”.
Security work was always available around the City in light of a constant high crime rate and I rang, wrote and visited many, many establishments in the weeks after being walked off the premises of the House of Fraser store…
But I always seemed to just miss an opportunity:
“Vacancy just filled”
“We should have taken the job down last week”
“Ah, perhaps you are a little overqualified”
…the latter always made me laugh in a way, I was happy to work and work at any level…but hey.
Having gone through the phone book (yup one of those paper-based things lol), I had listed all of the Security companies in the area and systematically worked through the list ringing each and every one on the off chance they had a vacancy.
And then one day a small ad in the job section of the local rag caught my eye. It was a security officer vacancy for a company I had not seen before…it was a tiny advert with “Ring Dave on:” in it. But when I checked the phone book list I had actually written down this company and not yet contacted them.
Well, let’s give this one a try…
“Hello, I am responding to the vacancy advertised in the Hull Daily Mail, could I speak to Dave please?”
“Speaking”
“Ah, great, hi, I do have worked in Retail Security and also have a military background and would like to know more about the vacancy please”
“What is your most recent job in Security?”
“I worked for the House of Fraser Store in Hull”
There was a silence.
“Ah, I know that store…I actually used to work there once…” his voice had started to sound familiar.
“You did? Hang on…Dave?…Dave the postman?”
“Haha…ya got me, and I am sure I know who you are Fraser One!?”
“Yes…it’s me”
“Hey, let’s grab a coffee together tomorrow and have a chat about the job vacancy”
We agreed on a time and he directed me to where the company was situated.
Perhaps, this job vacancy had some “legs” eh?
Until Next Time
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