Deploying a security operative without a valid SIA licence is a criminal offence under the Private Security Industry Act 2001 — for both the operative and the company that deployed them. Between 6 April 2024 and 5 April 2025, the SIA issued improvement notices to 15 businesses for supplying unlicensed operatives and completed 1,274 investigation cases.
The three prosecutions below share one characteristic: in every case, the company had not checked whether the licence was valid before the operative worked. Not complicated document verification — a check against the public register that takes seconds.
The SIA maintains a public register of licence holders at services.sia.homeoffice.gov.uk/rolh. You can search by licence number or by name. The register shows current status — active, suspended, or revoked — which category the licence covers, and the expiry date.
A physical licence card cannot be relied on alone. It has an expiry date printed on it, but shows no suspension status. An operative whose licence was suspended last week will still have the same card they had when they started. Only the register reflects the current position.
A Weymouth security company. The director admitted in an interview under caution that he had not checked whether operative Mark Tilley had renewed his SIA door supervisor licence after it expired in June 2024. Tilley continued working at venues across Weymouth for months without a valid licence.
The director received a 12-month community order with 50 hours unpaid work, £500 costs, and £114 victim surcharge. The company was fined £400 plus £500 costs plus £160 victim surcharge. The operative received fines totalling £500.
SIA Criminal Investigations Manager Nicola Bolton said: “By knowingly deploying an unlicensed security operative, the company director put the public at risk for his own profit.”
Source: SIA press release, gov.uk, February 2026 (company name withheld)
WorkerRecord checks the SIA public register every night for every operative on your account. When Tilley’s licence expired in June 2024, the status change would have triggered an immediate emergency alert — email and WhatsApp — to Joynes and any other admins. The specific failure the director admitted — not checking — is the specific task WorkerRecord performs automatically.
A Bristol security company. The directors deployed a door supervisor without a valid SIA licence. When prosecuted, the directors “claimed that they did not realise online licence checks existed, despite being in the security industry for 20 years.”
All three — the directors and the operative — entered guilty pleas. The SIA’s Criminal Investigation Manager commented that the licensing system exists to protect the public, and that convictions demonstrate vigilance against those who disregard regulations.
Source: SIA press release, gov.uk, August 2024 (company name withheld)
The Titan directors claimed not to know that the online register existed. WorkerRecord queries the same register automatically — you do not need to know it exists, remember to check it, or know how to use it. The licence check happens whether or not the person responsible for compliance thinks to do it that day.
A Liverpool security company. SIA investigators attended two bars in Northwich during a joint enforcement operation with Cheshire Police and found two door supervisors whose licences had expired on 7 August and 14 August 2022 respectively. The company had continued deploying both operatives after their licences had lapsed.
The company pleaded guilty to three offences of employing unlicensed operatives and was fined £3,000 plus £424 costs and a £1,200 victim surcharge — a total of £4,624. The company director faced separate proceedings for obstruction.
Source: SIA press release, gov.uk, February 2024 (company name withheld)
Both licences in the I Guard case had specific expiry dates — 7 and 14 August 2022. WorkerRecord tracks every operative’s SIA licence expiry date and sends pre-expiry warnings at 60 days (enough time to renew; the SIA’s own processing time is up to 25 working days). By the expiry date, the status change on the register would have triggered an emergency alert. Continued deployment after that alert would require an active decision to ignore it — which is different from simply not knowing.
None of these prosecutions involved deliberate fraud or complicated regulatory failures. In every case:
The 15 improvement notices issued to businesses in 2024/25 for the same offence represent the next tier below prosecution — companies where the SIA found the same failure but chose a lesser sanction. The pattern of enforcement is consistent: not checking is the failure, and the SIA is actively looking for it.
SIA licence renewal applications take up to 25 working days to process. From October 2024, operatives renewing a Door Supervisor or Security Guard licence must also hold a valid Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW) certificate before submitting. If the EFAW has also expired, that must be renewed first — adding further lead time.
The practical consequence: a 14-day warning of upcoming expiry is already too late for the operative to be certain of having a new licence before the old one lapses. A 60-day warning gives enough time to complete any additional training, submit the renewal, and receive the new licence before the current one expires.
A suspended licence is not visible on the card. The physical SIA licence card shows an expiry date. It does not show suspension status. An operative whose licence was suspended yesterday holds the same card as an operative in good standing. Only the register shows current status — which is why a check at the point of issuing the card, months ago, is not the same as a check before tonight’s shift.
Every operative’s licence is verified automatically against the live register. Status changes — expiry, suspension, revocation — trigger an immediate alert to all account owners and admins by email and WhatsApp. No credits consumed. The check the Chesil, Titan, and I Guard directors failed to make happens automatically.
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Sources: SIA press release — the Weymouth security company (gov.uk, February 2026); SIA press release — the Bristol security company (gov.uk, August 2024); SIA press release — the Liverpool security company (gov.uk, February 2024); SIA enforcement statistics 2024/25 (gov.uk); Private Security Industry Act 2001; SIA Get Licensed guidance (December 2025). All cases link to primary government sources.
The SIA maintains a public register of licence holders at services.sia.homeoffice.gov.uk/rolh. You can search by licence number or by name. The register shows current status (active, suspended, or revoked), which licence sectors are covered, and the expiry date. A physical licence card cannot be relied on alone — it shows an expiry date but not suspension status. Only the register shows the current position.
Deploying a security operative in a licensable role without a valid SIA licence is a criminal offence under Section 5 of the Private Security Industry Act 2001. Both the company and the individual operative can be prosecuted. Companies face fines; directors can face community orders or custodial sentences depending on the circumstances. The SIA publishes a rolling 12-month list of convictions on gov.uk.
The SIA's published processing time for licence renewal is up to 25 working days — five calendar weeks. From October 2024, operatives renewing a Door Supervisor or Security Guard licence must also hold a valid Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW) certificate before submitting. If the EFAW has also expired, that must be renewed first. Starting the renewal process at least 60 days before expiry ensures continuity of licence.
Yes. The SIA can suspend a licence during an investigation into fitness to hold a licence — for example following a criminal charge. The operative's status on the public register changes immediately, but the physical licence card they carry looks identical to a card in good standing. Unless you check the register on the day they are deployed, you will not know their status has changed.
Checking once at onboarding is not sufficient. Licences can be suspended or revoked at any point between your initial check and the operative's next shift. Best practice is daily automated checking for all operatives on your roster. Manual daily checking across a team of 20 or more operatives is not practical — which is why automated register checking exists.
Official sources
WorkerRecord tracks this automatically for security companies.