As mentioned already today North Court Investigations attended the Home Affairs Committee seminar in London. Present was Paul Woolwich who discussed the forthcoming  television documentary, Watching the Detectives, which is being shown tonight on Channel 4 at 8.00pm.

Private detectives, together with the investigation industry, have been in the public eye for sometime now, since the revelations of the phone hacking scandal and the closing of the national Sunday tabloid the News of the World.

Mr Woolwich explained at the seminar today that tonights documentary is focused around two private investigation companies who were approached by a fictitious company requesting personal information. Both of the companies they approached were able to provide the required information which, Mr Woolwich said contained personal phone records and personal banking information.

Whilst there are companies out there that will provide this information, we at North Court Investigations are concerned that the documentary will tarnish our industry and bring it into dispute even more than it has already been. The phone hacking scandal highlighted the issues, but those involved within the scandal were just a tiny minority. It is estimated that there are some 10,000 private investigators working in the UK, and we believe 95% of those are acting within the law.

The industry does need some form of regulation now, not by 2020 as was suggested at the seminar attended today. The majority of private investigators are professionals and those who belong to one of the trade associations, such as the ABI, are proving that that they have nothing to hide and welcome regulation of the industry.

This evenings documentary, will we fear, focus only on the negative within the industry which we believe is wrong. We fully appreciate rouge investigators should not be allowed to work within the industry but it would also help the industry, as whole, if the program was to also highlight the positive side of the industry, which by far out weigh all the negatives.

Watching the Detectives Channel 4 tonight at 8.00pm.

Also present was Paul Woolwich who was discussing a Channel 4 documentry that is being shown tonight, Watching the Detectives. He explained how the show centres around two particular private investigation companies who were supplying private data to the reporters of the show. The companies who were involved were discussed at today’s seminar, Mr Woolwich explained to those present how the investigation companies were approached and how easy it was for these companies to provide what was asked for.

The general consensus is that the investigation industry is in need of some form of licensing or regulation, however, what is unclear is how this should be implemented. Present at the seminar was the President of the Association of British Investigators who explained to the committee the thoughts of the association and explained that they were fully supportive of regulation. Also present were various private investigators who also stood up and offered their own feelings on how the industry should be regulated.

We as a company hope that the Select Committee take on board what was said and don’t rush in to regulating the industry without considering the professional, law abiding companies that currently operate. It was suggested at the seminar that the rogue investigators within the industry only account for 3% of those operating in the UK. We fully support regulation and look forward to the committees report which will be produced at the end of July this year.

Oxford is known as a City of cyclists, therefore we have to be sure we have a good selections of push bikes to use as we are very often instructed to undertake surveillance by push bike. Lots of people travel around Oxford by cycle so we have to be ready act when called upon.

In addition to the covert body worn equipment and push bikes we also have the use of fully kitted out surveillance vehicles, the vehicles contain hidden cameras all around the vehicle ensuring we have full coverage. The surveillance vehicles are ideal for deploying for static surveillance purposes, this could be where we are instructed to observe the comings and goings at a certain property or place of work.

Our Private Detectives have an excellent knowledge of Oxford City and surrounding areas which really does help when covertly following a subject, whether it be by car, motorbike or push bike.

When booking surveillance a minimum of 4 hours must be booked at any one time and we always recommend using a minimum of two agents. By using a minimum of 2 agents, this helps reduce the risks of either losing contact with the subject in traffic and the subject becoming aware they he/she is being followed.

We not only cover Oxford for surveillance, we have offices throughout the UK and have the capability and operatives to undertake surveillance anywhere in the UK.

For more information give our Oxford office a call on 01865 389941.

Rebekah Brooks is this morning giving evidence at the Leveson Inquiry. Brooks has confirmed David Cameron the Prime Minister contacted and offered her his support. She said the message from the Prime Minister was “along the lines” of “keep your head up”.

Glenn Mulcaire said any claim was ‘completely wrong’ that he is defending his former employer. A three day hearing started at the supreme court in London on Tuesday 8th May.

The private investigator is challenging a Court Order to explain which person at the News of the World instructed him to hack Nicola Phillips phone, who is the former PR consultant to Max Clifford.

Mulcaire released a statement just prior to the supreme court hearing on Tuesday, he said ‘This appeal is being heard because I have been advised by my legal team from the outset that I should not have to give potential incriminating answers to questions asked of me in the phone hacking cases in the High Court. I bring it for no other reason.

‘All the steps taken by my legal team in respect of the civil claims against me are to protect my legitimate legal interests. Any suggestion that I am bringing this appeal, or defending the civil claims, to protect the company I used to work for, or anyone at that company, would be completely wrong.

Counsel for the private detective, Gavin Millar QC informed five senior law lords at the supreme court of the following, ‘the decision to pursue this appeal is Mr Mulcaire’s and his alone’.

It would appear the phone hacking scandal is far from over, what with the Leveson inquiry ongoing and the challenge by Mulcaire, it looks as if this is going to be in the news for some time to come.

The sooner some sort of regulation is put in place for private detectives in the UK the better it will be for the industry as a whole.

Before the subject arrives we send out agents to undertake a full recce of the hotel. This is done to ensure the agents assigned know how many entrances and exits there are to the hotel, how many bars or restaurants may be inside, where the car park is situated, pool, gym etc. So when the subject arrives the agents know the layout of the hotel.

When a subject is booked in at a hotel we always recommend to the client that the agents book in to the hotel as well. Having the private investigators booked in and staying at the hotel ensures there are no issues with hotel security asking questions. Undertaking surveillance in a hotel is certainly not a glamourous assignment, the private detectives have to be on alert at all times to wait for the subject to be spotted. This could be during breakfast or late at night when returning from a meeting or night out. Once in the hotel the agents have to gather information relating to who the subject is with and what they are doing. If it is a marital assignment the big question is, does the subject go to his or her room in the evening on their own and do they have any visitors during the night.

Many hours can go by and nothing happens and the subject may not be seen, this can be somewhat tedious for the private investigators assigned but they still have be on alert and ready to act if the subject suddenly appears. Its not just London where hotel surveillance takes place (however this seems to be the busiest city at the moment), we have had assignments in hotels all over the UK.

All of our surveillance operatives are highly trained and experts in their chosen field, they have no criminal records and are mostly are from a military or police background.

For piece of mind on what a loved one is doing whilst visiting the UK or if you have a business partner coming to the UK and would like to know who they are meeting with get in touch with a reputable firm of private investigators.

We felt that the new design should make it easy for the reader to understand how we can help them, who we can help, where we can help and make it easy for them to contact us.

• A packet of cigarettes to be put up by 37p (most discussed)
• Alcohol duty to remain unchanged (on a par with cigarette discussion)
• Personal income allownce to be raised to £9,205. This will ensure 24 million people will be £220 a year better off.
• No change to exisiting plans on fuel duty. (the Governments and fuel companies just put prices up when they want anyway, so expect a rice very soon). The price of fuel has become so high it’s getting out of hand.
• From midnight tonight a new level of stamp duty will be put to 7% on homes worth over 2 million. In addition to this homes worth over 2 million that are purchased through companies the stamp duty will be 15%. This has closed a loop hole that the rich and famous have been using for years.
• Corporation Tax to be cut to 24%
• The 50p top rate of tax is to be reduced to 45p. (Not likely to affect us!)

All of the above is what has interested us, we do not pretend to be political experts and to be honest lots of what is mentioned in the budget gets forgotten about, apart from the most important, which for lots of private investigators appears to be alcohol, cigarettes & fuel

One way of protecting against these threats is to undertake background checks on potential employees and individuals who have dealings with your company. Undertaking background checks also helps reduce the risk of internal theft and possible fraud. When undertaking a background screening process we are able to undertake criminal record checks, confirmation of qualifications, history of long term sickness, verification of the applicant’s CV and credit checks which will ensure financial stability. For further information on what other services are available please get in touch.

Any organisation who has a reputation for implementing these measures maintain and enhance their reputation within their specific industry, this helps attract quality and risk free candidates to choose from. It only takes one rogue employee or business associate to seriously damage a company’s reputation.

North Court Investigations have the ability and private detectives to undertake background screening around the world, this ensures that wherever a candidate is located you can be sure you will know exactly who you are potentially going to hire or do business with, whilst at the same time, helping protecting your brand and intellectual property.