Simon was born in Sussex and educated in Greenwich, South London. After leaving school, Simon undertook an apprenticeship with International Telephones in central London. Here he had many responsibilities, including overseeing the installation of equipment in a new international switching centre next to Cannon Street Station. Simon then took a sideways step and became a training officer.
Simon left the GPO to work for Chubb Alarms in 1977, where his duties involved installing intruder alarm systems, CCTV and access control in the Greater London and surrounding areas. Here, he was responsible for numerous interesting installations including The Tower of London, Jewel House and the clipper Cutty Sark, together with Gypsy Moth 4, both of which were in dry dock at Greenwich. During his career, Simon has worked on a huge range of projects; from West End mansions to wine warehouses, from banks to care homes. Since then, Simon has been involved in installing large CCTV systems for Norwich Corrugated Board and Dow Chemicals at King’s Lynn, as well as the installation of intruder, personal attack, CCTV and access control to a remote CCTV monitoring centre in Gloucestershire.
Soon Simon realised that he could never stay a “townie” and so in 1979 he relocated with his wife to Norfolk, still working for Chubb.
In the years that followed Simon was employed by Security Alarm Systems in Norwich, working his way up to become Engineering Manager. Modern Alarms (now ADT) provided even more varied work and a widening of his experience.
Whilst at Modern Alarms Simon met Richard Lawrie – in 1989 the two joined forces and Dragon Security Systems was born. For the first 2 months of its existence, Dragon Security Systems was a subcontractor of Modern Alarms, allowing Simon to complete a large security system which he had started at The Forensic Science Laboratories in Huntingdon.
The years that followed have been very exciting for Simon and for the company, with the progress of technology including IP CCTV and wireless networking. Training courses with Mobotix, one of the largest developers and manufacturers of IP-based CCTV, have allowed Simon to design wireless CCTV systems for Beccles Town centre and Vision Park at Histon near Cambridge. These projects thus avoided the expense and disruption of digging up roads to lay cables.
Traditional technology has long been at the centre of Dragon Security Systems. Simon has BS7036 training, the standard for safety devices on automatic doors and barriers. This has allowed the company to install and maintain such systems for housing associations and Norfolk Constabulary, as well as other commercial and domestic clients.
During the year 2000, Simon project-managed the installation of CCTV access control and intruder alarms into “The Forum” in Norwich. This ambitious project included the laying of approximately 2 kilometres of cable and some bespoke fabrication that allowed the systems to meet the requirements of an exacting design concept. This project included daily consultation with the builder and M&E contractor, as well as working closely with the architects on the team.
Another interesting project undertaken by Dragon Security Systems was to design and produce comprehensive installation manuals required for an intruder and personal attack alarm system which was to be installed in two buildings for an oil-related company in Nigeria. The system had to alert security staff and automatically activate flood lighting around the compound in case of intruders.For this project, Dragon Security Systems also provided all the necessary materials.
More recently and following various training courses, Simon has earned qualifications in fire design, installation/commissioning and maintenance, contributing to Dragon Security Systems’ BAFE Fire Systems Installer accreditation.
Outside of work, Simon is an active member of his local community. He has been a member of the local Parish Council for a number of years, and in 2012 he was elected chairman. He is also Chairman of a Trust and of a local registered charity that has been raising money for projects and organisations in the local area since the mid 1960s.
