I’m asking Kate Bright, the founder of private security company UMBRA International for her career highlights...

“A more mundane but no less important moment was filling our accounts for the 2020/2021 period – the relief of the business surviving a global pandemic!” Indeed, surviving COVID-19 will go down for all of us as a career milestone. But there’s much more to her story. There was also her first big break working for a very high-profile family; being shortlisted as Entrepreneurial Woman of the Year in the Citywealth awards in 2019, and being appointed to the board of the SIA, the security industry’s regulator.  

Kate is used to people looking confused when she tells them she trained as an elite bodyguard and holds a Close Protectionlicense. Which is exactly the reason she does what she does – she wants to see real change in the private security industry. “Awareness is the problem - and I’m trying to help change that,” she says. It’s also the reason she did a TEDx talk entitled ‘Can Women Protect Men in 2018?’ (her answer is women and men need to protect one another). 

Here we dive deep into her carer to find out more about her mission and the changes she wants to see for women…

Go to umbrainternational.com

Take us back to school – what were you like and what did you think you were going to do as a career?

I went to a state primary school in Sussex along with my younger brother. My teacher when I was nine nicknamed me ‘The Furnace’ as he said as soon as he gave me work, I would burn through it and want to learn more. At the start of my primary school years my father had bought a dilapidated piano from a pub near to where we lived, and by about the age of seven I was playing tunes I heard on the radio from ear, so my mother insisted I take formal lessons, which I loved. With a large family of Bavarian heritage on his side, and Irish on my mother’s side, I genuinely thought that all meals ended in a singalong, I was always on the piano. This was also helpful as my father’s business was growing, and he would host his clients and colleagues at home regularly, so entertaining and being part of my father’s business development unknowingly became the norm. I was encouraged to go for a music scholarship at the nearby Burgess Hill School for Girls and by some stroke of luck they took a pub-piano-trained maverick! 

 The school was an incredible place for a girl like me to learn how to learn. After happy years there spent performing in music recitals, captaining the netball team and learning Latin, it was French that stole my heart and that I went on to study. The prospect of a year abroad on the French overseas territory of La Reunion led me to Royal Holloway, University of London - and that year on the Indian Ocean island was an amazing experience living within a multicultural society, which I’ve thrived on ever since.

 I’ve often thought that this huge range of creative technicolour that I loved growing up is the only reason I ended up on an entrepreneurial career path… and I’ve only played the piano once in front of a client… at her request. 

You’re bodyguard trained – what are the assumptions you get when you tell people this?

‘What? How did you get involved in that? What’s the most dangerous situation you’ve been in? You’ve probably got a black belt in karate?’ 

I’m so used to confusion, intimidation and to certain assumptions when I let people know I’m trained as an elite bodyguard and hold a Close Protection license, that’s exactly how I kicked off my TEDx talk ‘Can Women Protect Men in 2018?’

My training coupled with the fact that I am operational when needed - mostly to ensure that if a client requires a female operative that we are able to fulfil the brief - always leads to questions, how many depends on whether they are a client or simply someone who hears my story in the wider context. 

Some of the frequent assumptions are about close protection operatives only being from military or law enforcement backgrounds, which I am not. But the most common expectation is that women must only look after women and children, which is far from true. 

Clients from the Middle East are totally unphased by female Close Protection operatives, as they use female operators for cultural reasons to protect women and young children primarily, so there are less assumptions. Through my work with UMBRA we are trying to change perceptions and stereotypes to encourage a wider entry point of skills into the security industry, especially more women, since more and more clients are asking for female operatives and mixed gender teams.

How have you navigated being a female bodyguard?

I have been incredibly lucky to work with brilliant men and women from a variety of backgrounds and have always used my difference as a strength and point of difference – rather than something to hold me back. That coupled with being fortunate to work alongside some of the most brilliant businesses and strategic minds has given me the confidence to grow a business that is making a difference. I’ve taken the learnings from the operational front-line world into business as well as the boardroom, as being ‘different’. Asking questions where needed, is a key part of continual learning and a good trait I am developing in governance roles where my challenge is mostly born out of needing clarification around long held assumptions or assertions. ‘We’ve always done it this way’ is my favourite phrase to unpick, particularly in the backdrop of a world shaken by a pandemic and the changes to health and safety that need to develop as a result, not just for client safety but for public safety also. We offer a holistic service to our clients alongside the personnel, so they know that the advice and project management they get from UMBRA comes from that experience, and that challenge mindset.

Kate Bright

You’ve said before on a career as a PA: “The perception of what the job entails frustrates me to this day” – what did you mean by this?

Underestimate any Personal Assistant at your peril. They are at the right hand of all knowledge – they sit in the position of power behind the throne, and yet the role is still not recognised as the CEO of a business/personal life. It is (another) battle I’m trying to help my Personal Assistant (PA), Executive Assistant (EA) and Chief of Staff community to keep pushing for. Since part of UMBRA’s business, UMBRA Select, helps clients hire exceptional personnel – from security to private staffing – we are experts in helping clients find their right hand wo - man.

You did your bodyguard training – what did you learn through 160 hours of training?

I always tell young people when I am doing talks to schools and colleges, to never stop learning. I am an example of someone who ‘stayed in lane’ for far too long. As a PA I never received (or asked for) ANY professional development. Training and continually developing a mindset is something you have to actively embed into your life, invest in and create yourself. It is something that normally sits outside the day job, so it’s hard to do, fit in and pay for. I’m strict with myself on this front now though and reinvest 10% of UMBRA profits each year into training and development for myself - and the same for my team.

SIA accredited Close Protection training is a 160 hour / 2-3 week course covering planning, physical intervention, counter terrorism training as standard. Much of the course centers around planning for every eventuality - plan A, B, C D, and so on - leaving nothing to chance. There are basic requirements for First Aid in addition to those 160 hours, which you then keep refreshing over time. The idea is that the training is just the start of your Close Protection career, and that you continue to learn, and adopt a Continuous Professional Development mindset. For me that has meant additional Krav Maga (Israeli Martial Arts) and Advanced Driver training, as well as continuing to learn the languages of the clients that I work with - one way to stay very safe is to be able to communicate effectively with those around you. 

You went on to build your own private security company UMBRA International – tell me about your “why” for this company?

Ask any entrepreneur to tell you the WHY when they first set up a business, then when there were the beginnings of traction, then about how they led it through a pandemic, I assure you, you will have a technicolour range of answers, mine are – first set up – NEED – had to make money, traction – PASSION – to build a successful business and to make impact, and now it'sall about LEGACY – what are we leaving behind as a business. How many people can we impact, over and above the clients we serve every day. For me, the lightbulb moment was undertaking the Close Protection training. UMBRA grew from the USP of female lead security to a global business that provides people, advice and project management - all the key aspects of good protection. My why remains to this day - I want to make security accessible to a broader audience, and my clients know that for every pound that they spend with us giving them the service of Secure Lifestyle we are pushing forward with this mission. Free downloadable Personal Security Toolkit resources on the UMBRA website are just the start - and we want everyone involved in the conversation - so watch this space! 

How can you inspire more women to think about invisible security as a career?

I feel a great sense of responsibility that I am considered a role model, particularly for young women. As Mandy Hickson, the first female fighter pilot says ‘you have to see it, to be it’.  I have taken the responsibility that my career should be accessible to those that are looking at the options available to them in today's complex working world, therefore I do as many talks, in real life and virtually, to spread the word, tell my story which is why I am so grateful to platforms like AllBright who are pioneering new ways to reach more women and young girls.

I would love to think that I would inspire more women to think more broadly about a career in security, not just front line protection, and by talking to women of all ages you can build a pipeline of talent, where young people are aware of all the opportunities that lie before them - whether that is from secondary school age, signposting children to the Cyber first training on the National Cyber Security Centre website. If I could do it all again I’d join the National Cyber Force as a career path, either that or the British Army more generally, I can’t think of a better disciplined start for any young person in today's complex world than to be part of the bigger picture protective infrastructure.

Tell me what women bring to security that men don’t?

From my personal experience, in frontline Close Protection, women have a different presence, perception and skills, when mapped over other skills means you have a much wider skillset therefore the protective potential is much more all-encompassing - from the hard to the soft skills. I noticed how useful I was working in teams where my presence could make our work be much more discrete and enable us to get tasks completed in a more timely manner, simply due to the fact that I was ‘hiding in plain sight’ - not least of which to deter potential threats, but also to be less of a physical presence for clients.

Women in general have different life experiences and bring so much to the security sector in general, and there are a huge amount of initiatives to tell the different stories of women in roles as diverse as security within NGOs to those working in Corporate Resilience. There really is so much variety, and women have legitimacy in every part of the sector. 

Can you talk to me about the growing demand for female bodyguards in the private staffing sector?

In UMBRA terminology, we call it ‘Invisible security’ - the ability to bring more women in to protective tasks plays into the prevalence of modern risks and threats, which are ever evolving. Chaperoned travel has been aa big area of growth in the face of Covid-19 –a safer way for younger clients to travel, and again a very discreet way to travel with protection. Women are increasingly working alongside male clients, where they are unobtrusive, and perhaps appear as the right hand/ Chief of Staff. There is more demand for logistical roles within protective teams too, which suits former Personal Assistants  as well as more traditional ex-military backgrounds.

How would you describe 21st-century personal protection?

At the forefront it’s understanding the link between physical and digital security and the importance of both. Knowing that ‘cyber’ is a word that affects everyone and that its impact on a reputation can change your world overnight - think cancel culture!

More recently, this has been a year that has put the health into ‘health and safety’ – the amount of support the security profession has had to give to the delivery of health services (temperature checking in client homes etc), the conversations with medical concierge partners, eg HCA, global healthcare provision, emergency healthcare etc in the Covid-era has been immense.

We’ve also seen a rise in the need for high level emotional support for our clients (and our team) as the world shifted so suddenly. Clients of this nature going through life changes where security considerations need to be adapted are often very stressed, and our duty of care is to ensure we are always working with clients in a very sensitive manner, addressing real risk and concern, rather than fears and paranoia. Our signposting to support specialists from psychiatrists, rehab, addiction and therapy centres (and referrals from these entities) has increased this year. Our whole team is now Mental Health First Aid trained and we will be adding this to our Personal Security Toolkit, launching this year, as well as being advocates for encouraging mental health first aid training becoming a key part of Security Training. The Security profession is often frontline to traumatising and life altering events, and we believe those working within the industry need these tools to protect themselves emotionally, and by extension the clients and public they protect.

The Security Industry Authority (SIA), released data in 2018 showing that currently only 5.4% of all badged Close Protection Operatives are female – what are the biggest barriers to entry for females?

I think you’ll find we are now at 5.75% since I did my Tedx talk – I like to think I helped move the needle – even by .35% - I’ll take that as an increase!

I genuinely think that not enough women, particularly non military/law enforcement, know that a career in security is one that is open to them, and that can be fitted in around other commitments, since a large part of the industry is predicated on consultancy work. Awareness is the problem - and I’m trying to help change that.