The UK security sector bade a fond farewell to one of its longest serving and most distinguished members. Colonel Nigel John Flower (1932 – 2022) served for more than seventy years in a career that spanned military service, corporate security management, independent security consulting and the voluntary security sectors.
Nigel joined the British Army as a National Serviceman in 1951. He was first commissioned into the King’s Own Royal Border Regiment, later transferring to the Army Intelligence Corps. Between the 1950s and 1980s, firstly as an infantry officer and later as a senior miliary intelligence officer, Nigel served in most of the global ‘hotspots’. Stretching from Europe to the Far East, Nigel’s work was highly sensitive and critically vital to averting and mitigating threats and to maintaining world peace.
On leaving military service in 1984, Nigel, a fluent Russian speaker, joined Honeywell (UK), serving as its Head of Security for EMEA until 1989. In 1984, he also joined ASIS, the international membership organisation for security management professionals, applying his impressive security leadership skills for the benefit of industry colleagues. In 1993, he was instrumental in the formation and, as a committee member, the further development of the ASIS UK Chapter (208), which has grown to be the second largest Chapter in the ASIS global network. It is fitting that, in 2008, Nigel was presented with the ASIS ‘Mervyn David Award’ bestowed in memory of Chapter 208’s founder.
On entering the independent security sector as a security consultant in 1989, Nigel joined with other influential thought leaders, including the late Mike Cahalane and John Benton, to raise the standards of security consultancy. In 1991, firstly with just a handful of interested colleagues and meeting in a church hall, they formed the Association of Security Consultants (ASC). The governance process and Code of Conduct for independent security consultancy (i.e., not tied to end product or service) was ahead of its time and reflected the impeccably high standards that Nigel and his colleagues brought to the profession. That same governance and Codes remain firmly in place to this date. Nigel served as the ASC’s first Chairman and, in 2019, was appointed its Honorary Life President.
Nigel remained actively involved in both ASIS and the ASC until very recently before his sad departure.
Nigel leaves behind an extensive and loving family and many dear friends, not only those in the security fraternity. For us in the security family, he leaves behind a powerful legacy and many warm memories. Always meticulous in his work, his appearance and his demeanour, Nigel represented the very best in us. His work is now done, may he rest in peace.