It feels as though the world has shifted once again since I last sat down to write this weekly note. Returning from a week in Kyiv (more on that in the below video), it is impossible to ignore how events unfolding across the Middle East have underlined – in the starkest possible terms – the worsening global threat environment.
There is something profoundly sobering about standing in one conflict zone and hearing news of another emerging at the same time. In all my years working across these sectors, I’m not sure I’ve ever felt our purpose and our responsibilities quite so sharply as I have these last few weeks.
Yet, it is precisely against that backdrop that I find myself looking for and thankfully seeing some reasons for optimism. We cannot ignore the reality of our adversaries, but we can recognise and celebrate where industry is stepping up and delivering. Our security and resilience sector – our ‘silent guardian’, as I so often describe it – is one such source of hope.
This week’s launch of our 2026 Security and Resilience Sector Outlook offered a timely reminder of just how vital this sector is to the UK economy. The highlights of our Security Outlook released this week show £27.6 billion in turnover, £14.5 billion in economic value add, and 150,000 people employed across the country. The list of contributions goes on.
However, it is the sector’s significant export growth that we must touch on – with the last decade having seen a near 240% increase. Exports now account for nearly half of sector turnover, at £13.6 billion – remarkably broadly equal to UK defence exports in a rolling average.
It was with this wider global picture in mind that the ADS team approached this year’s Security & Policing, the unique and seminal moment in our sector’s calendar. Delivered by ADS on behalf of the Home Office’s Joint Security and Resilience Centre (JSaRC), we welcomed over 400 exhibitors and thousands of attendees. While this extraordinary activity is no doubt a sign of the times we live in, it’s also (in my humble opinion) down to the incredible partnership we continue to have with JSaRC.
While we’re all running on fumes (and plenty of caffeine), I must say that this year’s Security & Policing was quite remarkable. On behalf of our more than 1100 members active in the security and resilience sectors, it was a real privilege to welcome the people underpinning the security of our nation to Farnborough once again.
Warm regards,
Kevin Craven
ADS Chief Executive
