Mitie secures £21.5 million contract for prestigious Tate sites

Mitie will play a vital role in ensuring that the galleries, each of which is home to some of the country’s most iconic artwork, are secure and welcoming environments. With 4.6 million annual visitors to Tate Modern alone, robust and responsive security and high-quality visitor services key for operations.

Mitie already deploys more than 27,000 security officers to protect some of Britain’s biggest organisations, most iconic landmarks and national critical infrastructure.

Suite of services

The Tate contract, which will see 275 colleagues transfer to Mitie from a previous contractor via the TUPE Regulations, will provide a comprehensive suite of services including visitor services, event and gallery security and visitor search and screening, in addition to security intelligence services supported by Mitie’s Intelligence Security Operations Centre (ISOC) in Northampton.

Officers will be connected to the ISOC for 24/7 remote monitoring services across the estate. Data-driven intelligence will enhance threat detection and risk management and record episodes of local crime, theft and anti-social behaviour in order to ensure the safety of both visitors and gallery artwork.

As part of its commitment to create better places and thriving communities, Mitie will work in close partnership with Tate to upskill colleagues. The business will also focus on ensuring that Tate sites are fully inclusive, supporting the diverse needs of visitors, while ensuring sites are accessible to all. This will be achieved through the formation of new diversity networks, which will provide qualitative feedback, in turn enabling Mitie to assess the guest experience through the lens of minority groups and ensure the galleries provide appropriate safeguarding and meet accessibility needs.

Security intelligence     

Jason Towse, managing director of the Business Services division at Mitie, explained: “We’re proud to be partnering with Tate in order to deliver industry-leading security, combining an on-site presence with security intelligence to protect what are some of the UK’s most treasured cultural spaces. This reflects our commitment to creating safer communities.”

Towse added: “We look forward to supporting the wider Tate operations and will work to make each gallery an inclusive and secure environment for the millions of individuals who visit these locations each year.” 

A spokesperson from the Tate organisation responded: “The safety of our visitors, colleagues and artwork is always our top priority. We’re delighted to be working with Mitie to ensure that everyone who visits our galleries feels included, informed and inspired as they enjoy some of the best art this country has to offer.”