Ad agencies, hotels beef up security measures

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Mumbai: Fast food retail chains and hoteliers across the city are taking extra precautionary measures to ensure safety of staff and customers, after the recent carnage.

Amit Jatia, joint venture partner and managing director (West and South), McDonald's India, told FE, “We have installed CCTV cameras in all our restaurants, and also put up signboards which state that the outlet is under constant surveillance. Locally, every outlet is in touch with police stations and has been briefed to handle crisis situations.”

Jatia further added, “We are working closely with mall managements and have also reviewed security arrangements at our stores, especially in cases where customer traffic is high. As an industry, we need to work together to enforce safety parameters.”

Joseph Cherian, managing director, Pizza Corner, said, “We urge malls and muliplexes to allow armed gunmen at the respective entrances of restaurants.” Pizza Corner restaurants operate in standalone as well as mall formats.

Aashiyana Shroff and Deepak Shroff, owners of Vong Wong and Dragonfly, two upmarket hotspots in Express Towers, Nariman Point, said, “ We have already taken precautionary measures by installing bullet proof glass. CCTV cameras have been installed, and guards are close at hand to take charge in times of crisis.”

Lalitha Srinivasan

After the recent terror attacks in Mumbai, major advertising agencies are beefing up their security systems and implementing crisis management programmes. For instance, Lowe India is taking guidance from its parent company in New York to improve its planning, systems and approaches to crisis management programmes forthwith.

Also, while ad major RK Swamy/BBDO is beefing up security systems, Aegis Media India is conducting educational programmes to employees sensitise employees to security issues.

Piyush Pandey, executive chairman and national creative director, South Asia, O&M, said, “It's the need of the hour to make employees more secure and alert. For the purpose, we will be conducting crisis management sessions with security personnel.”

Charles Cadell, CEO, Lowe India, said that the agency is implementing a new identification card system from next week. Sam Balsara, chairman, Madiosn World, said, “We plan to introduce some security measures in the near future.”

According to Ashish Bhasin, chairman, India, Aegis Media, the agency has just kick-started an aggressive crisis management programme to educate its employees.