Security personnel hire
SIA-licensed staff, stewards and overnight cover, booked by shift. Booked by shift, planned from your risk assessment.
Event security typically costs £18 to £28 per hour per SIA-licensed officer with 4 to 6 hour minimum shifts. The planning baseline is 1 officer per 100 guests (risk-assessed up or down), plus overnight cover for multi-day site builds. Door supervision at licensed bars must be SIA badge holders.
Security is a personnel service, not a hire item: it books by shift, not by delivery date. The mix matters: SIA-licensed officers are legally required for door supervision and licensed-premises roles, while volunteer or professional stewards handle wayfinding, car parks and gates. A sensible plan puts badges where the law and the risk are, and friendly hi-vis everywhere else.
The under-bought line is overnight cover: a festival site with a built stage, PA and generator sitting in a dark field is an insurance claim waiting for a van. One officer and a dog handler cost less than the excess.
PLANNING RATIOLicensed events plan from a risk assessment; the crude baseline is 1 SIA officer per 100 guests, minimum 2, plus overnight kit-watch on multi-day builds.
What it costs
| Item | Typical guide price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| SIA officer, per hour | £18–£28 | |
| Overnight static guard, 12h | £220–£340 | |
| Dog unit, per night | £280–£450 | |
| Steward (non-SIA), per hour | £14–£20 |
Guide prices exclude VAT and vary with season, region and site access. Quotes from suppliers are always the real number.
Security personnel hire across the launch corridor
Local pages for every corridor town, with the same honest ratios and local site knowledge.
Security personnel hire: questions organisers ask
How many security staff does my event need?
Start from 1 per 100 attendees for licensed events, minimum 2 so no one works alone, then adjust on risk: alcohol service, cash on site, evening finish, and crowd profile. Unlicensed daytime community events often need stewards rather than SIA officers, which halves the cost.
What is the difference between a steward and SIA security?
Stewards guide, marshal and observe: car parks, gates, crossing points. SIA-licensed officers can perform guarding and door supervision duties: searches, ejections, licensed-premises door work. The law draws the line at those duties, so the roster should too.
