Farsta Centrum chooses the most flexible solution

Farsta Centrum, one of the most modern shopping centers south of Stockholm's inner city, has 150 shops and sees 15 million shoppers each year. This enormous flow of visitors creates great demands on security as well as the level of service. Together with Atrium Ljungberg, who owns the properties in Farsta Centrum, Securitas created a concept that suits both the property owners, the tenants and the shops' customers.

Farsta Centrum has a total area of 110,000 square meters, half of which consists of retail space, which is fairly large for a shopping center in Sweden. This area is visited by as many as 15 million people each year, plus almost 1000 store and restaurant employees.

Since Securitas won the security services contract in 2003, the center has been protected day and night by various technical security installations and security staff.
 
Stefan Hedlund, Security Manager at Farsta Centrum, explains why they chose Securitas:

"Securitas had a good concept to put forward and understood that we were asking for hosts and service personnel rather than "ordinary" security staff. There is added value if they look nice and can provide information, as well as be the outward face for our visitors. They are employed as patrolmen, but we are really buying a service function. Their highest priority isn't to deal with mischief, rather it is to take care of our tenants and visitors.

Since Securitas puts a lot of emphasis on being an active and flexible supplier that can grow together with their customers, a contract was drawn up that included patrolmen, floor walkers, receptionists, electricians on-call and free emergency workers. In addition, the patrolmen are trained to use a defibrillator (portable electronic cardiac starter) and receive extra training on group dynamics through Securitas' courses. Everything for a fixed monthly price, with a set of hours for extra patrols in order to make budgeting simpler for Atrium Ljungberg.

A project is currently underway where Securitas, together with Atrium Ljungberg, is creating a security survey for tenants and visitors in order to help the service grow to its maximum potential.

"Securitas is sensitive to our needs, since we don't want to purchase a standard product. We want to have a cooperative partner who understands our needs and can change their work methods accordingly and who doesn't work from according to "Template A". If Securitas doesn't have something, they work out a solution.

Farsta Centrum was opened in October 1960 and underwent a total renovation that was completed in 1998.  Now Farsta Centrum is facing another large period of renovation, which creates new security challenges for Securitas. The security issues are slightly different, including the expanded retail space and more visitors, but a functional solution is also needed during the renovation process since stores and other businesses still need to operate as normal. Preparations for security are already underway and the security system will soon be launched.

"It was incredibly important that Securitas understood that we first and foremost were asking for service and not traditional security guards," says Stefan Hedlund. They understood that immediately and they should get praise for that because I don't think it would have worked out with anyone else. It is really great!

 

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