A security company lost its contract to guard Glasgow School of Art’s Mackintosh Building and was replaced by another firm prior to the devastating fire in 2018, our sister title The Herald can reveal.
The contract to secure and guard the Mackintosh Building then passed on to Fortel Services, who held it until the second fire took place on June 15, 2018. Responding to The Herald’s discovery, Glasgow MSP Paul Sweeney, a board member of the Glasgow City Heritage Trust, said: “From day one, there has been absolutely zero transparency around the events leading up to the fire, and zero responsibility taken by anyone in whose primary role was to protect and preserve what could be deemed Scotland’s greatest architectural asset.
The discovery that Appollo Security Services lost the contract to guard the Mackintosh Building was made via a freedom of information request The Herald submitted to Glasgow School of Art. The first contract, in April of 2014, was held with Fife Council to provide Manned Electronic Security Guarding at a new social housing development in Dunfermline, while the second, in April the year after, was also with Fife Council to provide Manned Security Guarding for a new social housing development in Cowdenbeath.
A SIA spokesperson said: “I can confirm that the withdrawal of the Approved Contractor status and removal from our register of Approved Contractors of company Appollo Security Services was because the company did not re-register for approval in 2017.“Failure to re-register for approval constitutes non-conformance with the conditions of our Approved Contractor Scheme . It does not constitute non-compliance with the Private Security Industry Act 2001 .