On Tuesday 3rd June 2025, our General Secretary, Daniel Garnham and Deputy General Secretary, Jo Watling attended the META office in London for the launch of Moonhub’s latest VR training for security workers. This event brought together industry leaders and security trainers to get a feel of the new VR headsets and training.

For anybody interested in this VR training please contact us so we can arrange a free trial.

Here is Daniel’s keynote speech in full

It’s a pleasure to join you today at Meta’s HQ at the launch of MOONHUB’s latest step forward in immersive learning—Threat Preparedness VR Training, built in collaboration with Meta and informed by operational experts from policing, private security, and emergency planning.

I’m Daniel Garnham, General Secretary of the Security Industry Federation—the UK’s only trade union dedicated solely to security professionals—and Director at GSG Consultancy, as a qualified teacher, where we specialise in cyber resilience, digital threats, and advanced gamified training solutions.

I have a background of 20 years in the British Transport Police both in uniform and out, finishing in a cybercrime and security role and as a digital trainer across the UK. I was the BTP trauma manager for the Manchester Arena attack and was deployed straight away to support the officers who were first on scene and those that dealt with the immediate aftermath over the following weeks.  

Since leaving the BTP I have worked with the likes of Interpol, the United Nations and the International Police Association in countries around the world, teaching cybercrime, OSINT, digital forensics and cyber espionage and warfare to police, specialists teams, judiciary’s and journalists.

I provide complete higher education courses in cyber security and cybercrime to universities in 3 countries but it was whilst I was delivering SIA licence training to security workers in 2022 that I realised there was no specialist trade union for the private security industry. Within a short time the SIF was launched and we quickly became a certified union with the UK Home Office and now represent thousands of workers across the UK and a force for good, with our unique approach to advocacy and campaigns such as ensuring security workers are paid the Real Living Wage and urging the government to implement new legislation that better protects security workers against assaults similar to our emergency service and retail colleagues.

You may have seen the launch of the Protect Card which is our answer to the Blue Light Card who refused to allow security workers to be part of their discounts scheme despite being frontline workers who are often first on scene and outnumber police officers 4 to 1.

I am committed to improving the UKs private security industry and this is why the SIF have partnered with MoonHub, who have designed this innovative training for security workers, equally showing their commitment.

Security in the UK has evolved, but training models haven’t kept pace.
Martyn’s Law is a landmark shift, born from loss but driven by hope—a hope that we prepare rather than react. It clarifies what we’ve long known: that preparedness isn’t a luxury; it’s a legal and moral responsibility.
Whether you’re stationed at a concert arena or managing a corporate estate, your challenges are growing—more complex, more hybrid, and the risks are greater.

The current model is a framework set out by the regulator, the Security Industry Authority, but the quality of training varies greatly.

SIA Licences and lengths.

Because the threats we face, cyber, physical, insider threats, they don’t wait for someone to complete a CPD module. They happen in real-time and I’ve witnessed and made split second decisions that lecture style learning simply can’t teach.

HOT and Run, Hide, Tell.

We still rely too heavily on passive methods: tick-box e-learning, static PowerPoint decks, disengaged scenarios.

These don’t replicate real life scenarios or the pressure and stress that goes with it. They don’t build instincts. And they certainly don’t prepare someone to make life-or-death decisions under pressure.

In my union role, I hear from security officers who say: “I’m trained—but I don’t feel ready.” That gap between certification and competence is dangerous and unacceptable.

The Virtual Reality training being unveiled today isn’t just a new course—it’s a shift in mindset.
With VR-based threat preparedness, we’re no longer just telling people what to do. We’re showing them what it feels like.

This is training with empathy. With realism. With consequence—without the real-world risk.
It’s the bridge between theoretical compliance and lived competence.

Many SIA training schools are doing their best with the framework and time they get with security workers, whether they are new to the industry or attending a top up course. But I know they wish they could do more, but there are restrictions on the space they have for appropriate scenario based training and the learners don’t have the luxury of on the job training similar to other security services who employ months of training and shadowing until competence is achieved.

By equipping learners with VR headsets we can ensure that security workers, especially those coming into the industry for the first time, are given real time scenario based sessions where feedback is instant. Mistakes in real life can be catastrophic but this allows for safer mistakes, and deeper confidence. It allows us to simulate active threats, evacuations, behavioural cues—all in high fidelity.

This isn’t about replacing traditional training. It’s about enhancing it—amplifying muscle memory, situational awareness, and emotional readiness.

It’s the difference between watching a fire drill video and actually walking through the smoke.

The threat is greater than ever.
Insider threats bypass both physical and digital controls. Cyberattacks disable surveillance and access systems. Disinformation spreads faster than any panic alarm.

In today’s threat landscape, there are no silos. Everything connects. And so must our response.

This VR ecosystem allows for that convergence—training scenarios where physical breaches and cyber intrusions collide.

This is bigger than compliance. It’s about culture.

Martyn’s Law will rightly mandate change. But what we build today is a culture of vigilance. A culture of competence. A culture that says: We will not wait for tragedy before we act.

As a union leader, I say this to every security employer: It’s time to invest in your people—not just in wages, but in capability and confidence.
And to every training provider: It’s time to move beyond theory and engage reality.

At the Security Industry Federation, our mission is clear.

We fight for fair pay, for safe working conditions, and for recognition of the professionalism that security officers bring to every site, every shift, every situation.

And we advocate for training that reflects the seriousness of the job—not just a badge, but the ability to protect lives and property under pressure.

MOONHUB’s platform is aligned with that mission. It brings value to our members, and reassurance to the public.

To everyone here—innovators, leaders, security professionals, policymakers—I say this:

Let’s not aim for ‘good enough’. Let’s lead. Let’s elevate. Let’s embed preparedness into the DNA of our industry.

Let’s create training that is immersive. That is lived. That is worthy of the responsibilities we carry.

Thank you—and I look forward to exploring this exciting new chapter with you.