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Daniel Smith AdvisorySecurity · Risk · Preparedness

Approach

How the work is done, and how it is evidenced.

Every assessment states how the conclusion was reached, what evidence it rests on, and what would change it. Sources are graded, likelihood is stated against a defined yardstick, and assumptions are labelled as assumptions.

Principles

Four principles, applied to every engagement.

These apply whatever the scope of the engagement. They govern how a judgement is reached, and whether it holds up once it leaves the page.

01

Proportionate

The response should match the risk. I recommend what is necessary, explain why, and don't add measures that serve no real purpose.

02

Clear judgement

Every piece of work reaches a conclusion. What I recommend, why I recommend it, and what needs to happen next.

03

Evidence-led

Recommendations are based on the available evidence, properly assessed. Facts, assumptions and gaps are kept separate so you can see what the judgement is based on.

04

Practical

It has to work in practice, not just read well in a report. Recommendations take account of the people, the environment and how the organisation actually operates.

The method, by service

The assessment process varies with the service being delivered.

A destination assessment, a site risk assessment and a training programme are not built the same way. Three of those processes are shown below.

POSTT lens

Executive visit
  • PPolitical3/5 Moderate

    Government functioning, policing thin away from the centre

  • OOperational4/5 High

    Power, medical cover and vehicle recovery all have to be brought in

  • SSituation3/5 Moderate

    No major incident this period, criminality against visitors persistent

  • TTravel4/5 High

    The airport road and any movement after dark carry the exposure

  • TTerrorism2/5 Guarded

    Capability exists in country, no recent targeting in this city

Every destination is read through the same five lenses, and every score carries the reason it was given, so two assessments can be compared rather than just read.

Identify & treat

ISO 31000

Identification prompts

  • What?The asset at risk, and the act that would harm it
  • Where?The location, and the ground the act would happen on
  • When?The timing, and the window in which exposure is real
  • Why?The motive, and what a hostile party gains from it
  • How?The method they would realistically use, and with what capability

Treatment options

  • AvoidDo not run the activity in the form proposed
  • ReduceLower the likelihood, the impact, or both
  • ShareMove part of the exposure by contract, partner or insurance, knowing the duty of care stays with you
  • AcceptCarry it knowingly, with the decision recorded and owned
  • PursueTake the risk deliberately because the opportunity justifies it

Every risk carries one of the five treatments, a named owner and a stated residual risk. A risk with no treatment against it is not a finding, it is a note.

Training cycle

PTLLS
Identifying needs and planningDesigningFacilitatingAssessingEvaluating
  • Identifying needs and planning

    The needs of the organisation, the trainer and the learners, and the plan built around them

  • Designing

    Programme, materials and resources designed to cover what the subject requires

  • Facilitating

    Delivering the learning, using a variety of approaches and resources

  • Assessing

    Checking the skills, knowledge and understanding have actually been gained

  • Evaluating

    Feedback obtained and the process evaluated, so the next delivery is better

The client receives a training record showing who attended, what was covered and the standard reached.

Worked against combined specialist knowledge acquired through experience, training and real-life exposure.

How a site is read

A survey is run from the attacker's side of the fence.

Anyone studying a location works through four questions. A survey that does not answer them has not tested anything.

  1. 01

    What attracts me to the target?

    What is held here, who is here, and what is gained by getting at it.

  2. 02

    How vulnerable does the target appear?

    What is visible from the approach: the perimeter, the routine, the gaps.

  3. 03

    How confident do I feel about attacking it?

    Whether the measures on show would actually stop or delay anyone.

  4. 04

    Will I get away?

    Detection, response time and the routes out.

The findings are then written the same way round: what was looked at, what was found, why it matters, and what to do about it.

Movement planning

Journey management.

Every movement is built in the same order, and the plan is finished before anyone gets in a vehicle. On the day there is nothing left to work out. There is a plan to follow, or a condition to abort on.

  1. 01

    Reconnaissance

    The ground is looked at before the route is chosen. Chokepoints, alternates, and where you cannot turn around.

  2. 02

    Route

    Primary and alternate, chosen against the threat picture and the time of day.

  3. 03

    Movement

    Vehicles, drivers and ground transport held to a stated standard, and checked against it.

  4. 04

    Communications

    Timings, checkpoints, and who is expecting the call that does not come.

  5. 05

    Contingencies

    The conditions that stop the move, and the safe havens to stop at. Agreed before departure.

Built to this standard for Pakistan, and for Paris and Monaco in 2025, each with a full annex pack and deployment checklist.

Where it has been used

The same five headings, applied on the ground.

Each point represents experience working across different cultures and environments. It has built an understanding of local context, how people communicate, build trust and make decisions differently, and why an approach that works in one place, with one group of people, may not work somewhere else.

Operational footprint

Practice base

United Kingdom

Practice base. Working across UK and EMEA time zones.

Delivered work

Paris

Executive travel risk and journey management for principal movement.

Delivered work

Cote d'Azur & Monaco

Nice, Cannes, Saint-Tropez and Monaco. Event and executive movement planning, venue and route assurance.

Delivered work

The Alps

Geneva, Zurich, Davos, St Moritz and Courchevel.

Delivered work

Italy

Milan, Rome, Vatican City, Portofino, Naples, Capri and Sardinia.

Delivered work

Munich

Germany.

Delivered work

Amsterdam

Netherlands.

Military service

Norway

Northern Europe.

Military service

Denmark

Northern Europe.

Military service

Finland

Northern Europe.

Military service

France

Western Europe.

Military service

Slovenia

Central Europe.

Military service

Cyprus

Eastern Mediterranean.

Military service

Canada

North America.

Military service

United States

North America.

Delivered work

Madrid

Spain.

Military service

Canary Islands

Eastern Atlantic.

Delivered work

Greece & Turkiye

Athens, Istanbul and Bodrum.

Delivered work

Sint Maarten & Saint Barthelemy

Eastern Caribbean.

Delivered work

Egypt

North Africa.

Delivered work

Gaza

Humanitarian response in an active conflict environment.

Military service

Iraq

Operational service. Security planning and movement in a high-threat environment.

Military service

Afghanistan

Operational service. Leadership and crisis decision-making under operational pressure.

Delivered work

United Arab Emirates

Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Executive travel and event security, regional risk planning.

Delivered work

Hong Kong & Macau

Executive protection and corporate resilience through sustained civil unrest.

Delivered work

South Korea

North East Asia.

Delivered work

Singapore & Kuala Lumpur

South East Asia.

--:--:--UK
Practice baseDelivered workMilitary service

Engagement shape

Three phases.

You can enter at any phase. The intent is the same in each case: the system should hold once I step back.

IPhase

Understand

Read what you actually have, then build what should already exist. Risk model, thresholds, decision ownership, vendor standards and templates people will actually use.

IIPhase

Test

Prove it holds. Dry-run the trip, challenge the vendor, stress the leadership team against a scenario, and log where decisions slow or break.

IIIPhase

Support

Stay close while it beds in. Briefings, approvals, oversight and incident support, then a clean exit once it runs without me.

Next step

Put a real destination through it.

The fastest way to judge the method is to give it a live trip and read what comes back.