Student accommodation has been highlighted as an important factor when choosing a University. UNITE is the UKs largest provider of student hospitality and accommodation. UNITE focuses on the provision and management of high quality, well-located student accommodation and hospitality services at affordable prices in strong higher education markets. UNITE undertakes the planning work, development and management of sites, often working closely with the Universities and Colleges to deliver accommodation for students across all ages and nationalities. UNITE is home to some 38,000 student across the UK within it’s 135 properties; these are located between Aberdeen and Plymouth.

Steve Pinder, National Security Manager at UNITE said:

My role within UNITE is to look after the security needs of all managers within the business and our student customers who live in our accommodation. The safety and security of our 38,000 student customers is of high priority to us.

 

I look after physical security, CCTV, access control, locks, doors, windows and anything to do with the security internally or externally. CCTV is a major part of our every day lives, it deters criminal activity but it doesn’t solve crime. Security Blinds is a trusted partner of UNITE and are integral to the overall physical security decision process.” When looking to enhance the security at a small number of our sites, Security Blinds was the only supplier that met our requirement to better protect our accommodation and our customers. We have also used Secur™ to secure our on-site hospitality management offices.

The Secur™ system from Security Blinds has been effective and a great success for us because of the versatility of the blinds. It allows for the windows to be opened while still having window security. We have not had any security incidents since and Secur™ has never been breached. Secur™ looks like traditional vertical blinds yet it is an effective deterrent because each aluminium blind blade has a steel rod within it. We haven’t found another product that is better or more cost effective.

The feedback we get from customers is that when they see their room and see the blinds, they are reassured by having this added protection on the window. We didn’t want to put grilles on the windows as our student accomodation is like a home from home.” Presently Secur™ has been solely retro fitted, however longer term UNITE may look to design-in Secur™ for their future developments. The fact that Security Blinds have their own installation team has always been a benefit and the product has always been delivered on time and to budget.

For more information about UNITE please click here.