Aberdeen-based company Granite Elite, which was founded in 2019, has provided security at events including the Scottish Traditional Boat Show in Portsoy, the Royal Deeside Motor Show, the Highland Games, various Pride events in the north east of Scotland and local music festivals.
The company will bring qualified and trained personnel to Shetland, and it is also aiming to set up training sessions in the islands over the next few months.
That will enable any interested locals to attain the SIA (Security Industry Authority) licence required to work as a security guard. That should mean that Shetland will have suitably qualified staff to ensure large-scale standing music concerts and other events can take place.
Granite Elite managing director Craig Fraser said his company was seeking to expand its portfolio and was excited to be branching out into Shetland for the first time.
“We are ecstatic to be doing business with Lerwick Tall Ships and we’re looking forward to getting involved with the local community and helping make it a fantastic event,” he said.
“We’ll be coming into Shetland soon to do some training to get locals through their SIA qualification, with the aim of using a mixture of local staff and our contingency from the mainland.”
Shetland Tall Ships Ltd project manager Emma Miller said: “We are very pleased to have appointed Granite Elite to look after our security needs during next year’s Tall Ships event.
“The company has a good background in event work, including the Scottish Traditional Boat Festival in Portsoy, so has an understanding of maritime events and the specific considerations for this.
“Craig and the team are working closely with us to ensure our event is safe and secure for all participants, and I’m delighted that they are also looking at ways of training local staff to ensure our ongoing events industry is supported to be able to deliver larger standing concerts again.”
- Shetland Tall Ships Ltd is also looking to recruit individuals interested in becoming ship liaison officers or taking on other voluntary roles for next summer’s event. Anyone who wants to find out more can visit www.tallshipslerwick.com, email info@tallshipslerwick.com or phone (01595) 502110.