Security guards in Havering

Which parts of Havering do we cover?

Every part of it, from Collier Row and Harold Hill in the north to Rainham on the Thames. Its main commercial areas are these.

• Romford is Havering’s Metropolitan centre in the London Plan. The council counts four shopping centres as well as the outdoor market, which first opened by royal order in 1247 and now trades on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. More than 25 bus routes run through the town centre, Elizabeth line trains stop at Romford, Gidea Park and Harold Wood, and the Liberty line runs from Romford to Upminster. Queen’s Hospital is in Romford too, on Rom Valley Way.
• District centres at Hornchurch, Upminster, Elm Park, Collier Row, Harold Hill and Rainham, backed by 75 smaller local centres.
• Industrial estates at four Strategic Industrial Locations: the Rainham Employment Area, Harold Hill Industrial Area, King George Close Estate in Romford and the Freightmaster Estate. The Local Plan also protects five Locally Significant Industrial Sites, at Harold Wood, Hillman Close, the Seedbed Centre, Lyon Road and Crow Lane.
• Growth areas in Romford and at Rainham and Beam Park, the two Strategic Development Areas in the council’s Local Plan. Rainham and Beam Park is part of the London Riverside Opportunity Area, which runs on into Barking and Dagenham.
• Green Belt covers more than half the borough, and the Local Plan commits to enhancing the Thames Chase Community Forest.

What needs guarding in Havering?

Romford’s shops, day and evening. Retailers in the shopping centres and on the streets around Market Place can use visible, polite officers who deter theft and support staff at the tills: see retail security. The London Plan also classes Romford as a night-time economy area of regional or sub-regional importance, meaning a broad mix of activity carries on into the evening and night.

Industrial estates. The Local Plan wants the industrial land at Rainham used more intensively, and the estates at Harold Hill and King George Close are protected for industry. Officers can run the gatehouse, log HGVs and visitors, and patrol yards and perimeter fences out of hours, as our warehouse and industrial security page describes.

Building sites. The Romford Strategic Development Area is planned for at least 6,000 new homes and Rainham and Beam Park for at least 3,000, with a new local centre at Beam Park. The council’s initial housebuilding programme, set out in the same plan, covers 12 sites and more than 2,000 homes. On sites in Romford and at Beam Park, officers can control the gate by day and guard the site at night: see construction site security.

Premises that close at night. For shops in Hornchurch and Upminster or a unit at Crow Lane, our keyholding and alarm response service can send an SIA-licensed officer to the alarm. For Havering premises that don’t need an officer all night, mobile patrols can check them at set or random times.

What’s worth knowing before you book officers in Havering?

• Plan around market days. Stalls fill Romford Market Place every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, with extra days before Christmas. Set officers’ hours for nearby shops, and delivery times for town-centre building sites, with those days in mind.
• Romford and Rainham each have a Business Improvement District. In Rainham’s industrial area, the London Riverside BID funds a mobile security patrol from 7pm to 7am on weekdays and around the clock at weekends, keeps CCTV and ANPR cameras at key gateways, and shares security reports with on-site security teams. Romford BID covers the town centre, and in 2021 it part-funded a street triage team of two medics and a security guard on Friday and Saturday nights. Ask your BID what it runs so your officers’ duties and reporting fit around it.
• Late-night venues need the right licence. Staff guarding a bar or club in Romford that’s licensed for alcohol or regulated entertainment need an SIA door supervisor licence; a security guarding licence doesn’t cover it.
• Roads around Romford are changing. The Local Plan includes remodelling the Gallows Corner roundabout and sections of the Romford ring road, and more capacity at junction 28 of the M25. Construction traffic and patrol routes may need adjusting while that work goes on.