2022 in Review – A Year of Evolution and Growth

As we approach the close of 2022, it is a good time to reflect on a year which seems to have been and gone amazingly quickly! Perhaps it is because 2022 was the year that the world (and the Security & Access Control Industry) finally began to move out from the shadow of the COVID pandemic, to find equilibrium in terms of balancing risk with freedom, and enabled people to once again meet and travel.

Bouncing back

Certainly 2022 has been quite the year for TDSi! Our growth figures in the UK showed a considerable return to business and all the signs are that other markets (such as the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Australia) will follow suit in 2023 after clear shoots of recovery this year.

Being an international exporter means that TDSi gets to see first hand how markets fluctuate in different parts of the world and the recovery from the pandemic has varied considerably in different regions. However, during my travels this year (including a whistlestop tour of Asia, meeting with TDSi’s local partners and customers in Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, and Thailand in October), I can clearly see that everyone wants to move on, and the security markets reflect very positive signs.

A bright new year

January saw a return to Intersec in Dubai, which is always a highly positive feature (particularly for us Europeans in the middle of winter!), but even more so after the restrictions of the pandemic. There were clearly fewer visitors from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and China due to travel concerns, but we were delighted to meet contacts (old and new) face to face again.

We started the new year with our new Marketing Manager Nick Mercer, a very welcome addition to our team! We also unveiled the first of our GARDiS Access Control software updates in February, v2.3, which introduced a set of new features designed to support the needs of an emerging world and what we termed then the ‘new normal’. This was followed by the launch of the hotly anticipated GARDiS app for smartphones in March and a further raft of new and exciting features with the launch of v2.4 in July.

A year of live events

I think 2022 will be remembered as the year when live events really came back to the fore. In March I joined the TDSi team and our fellow VITAPROTECH Group sister company, perimeter intrusion detection systems manufacturer Protech USA at ISC West in Las Vegas. TDSi has been building up our presence in North America for a couple of years but this was a great opportunity to make a big splash and we had a very successful meet up with lots of interested (and interesting) potential partners.

In April we were closer to home in the UK with The Security Event at the NEC Birmingham. The event has become quite the fixture for the UK security sector in recent years and it was a joy to exhibit and to see a real return to form, with strong visitor numbers and again some fantastic leads and contacts.

Later in the year the pace continued, with our appearance at the GSX show in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, in September, which gave us a great chance to meet an East Coast focused selection of partners and customers following ISC West. We also appeared at Security TWENTY 22 in Manchester in July, the Adria Security Summit in Zagreb, Croatia, in October, and Security Twenty 22 in London at the beginning of November.

Further reach and support overseas

With the world opening up again, we felt the time was right to further extend our international reach in 2022 and this was highlighted by a major recruitment in June, with the appointment of new International Business Development Director Phil Tennent. With over 30 years’ worth of sales and international sales management experience in the Security and Access Control Industry and as a well-known and respected figure in the security sector, Phil is the perfect person to lead this and is a very welcome addition to our senior leadership team.

Not content with just exhibiting and meeting with our international partners and customers, TDSi also resumed our face-to-face technical training with our Technology Showcase, which visited Dubai and Bahrain in October. Phil and our team met with over 50 new and existing security installers, specifiers, and distributors for this free interactive hands-on session exploring TDSi’s latest Access Control Solutions.

A big milestone for TDSi

One of the biggest highlights for TDSi in 2022 was the company turning 40 years old in August! When you reflect upon our roots as a company manufacturing innovative time recording systems in 1982, up to the powerful fully integrated GARDiS online solutions we offer today, it has been quite the evolution. It’s also a reflection of just how much the world and the security business has changed in that time. The team and I had a wonderful boat trip and dinner in Poole Harbour (not far from our Headquarters) to celebrate this momentous event.

Further achievements 

In June we proudly announced we had added Cyber Essentials Certification to TDSi’s professional résumé, a clear demonstration of our dedication to fully securing our operations as well as our products and services. Backed by the UK Government through the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), we extended this with Cyber Essentials Plus Certification in October following a hands-on technical verification by an independent assessor.

In August TDSi was also proud to announce that our GARDiS range of Controllers and Extension Modules had received UL 294 Certification from Underwriters Laboratories of Canada Inc – a major accreditation, especially for our partners and customers in North America.

We were also very proud to be shortlisted for the ‘Security or Fire Software Product or Software as a Service Innovation of the Year’ category in the Security and Fire Excellence Awards 2022 for our GARDiS Access Control software.

Looking ahead

Whilst 2022 has been quite the year for TDSi, we are not resting on our laurels! With continued global instability in the shape of the ongoing war in Ukraine, a Cost-of-Living Crisis, and increased inflation in the UK and Europe, we know there are challenges ahead but TDSi as a company and a team are well placed to help deliver the security solutions that will support and protect people, businesses, and property. We are very excited to see what 2023 has in store!