A new lease of life for The Security Breakdown…

However necessary, my article last week went a bit deep…

 Nothing says good cheer like geopolitical strife.

 Rather than descend into full-on corporate existentialism, this week feels like an opportunity to talk about something a little more uplifting.

 The world’s going to do its thing, but we can keep the ball rolling in our sphere of influence, and that’s exactly what we’ll do.

 In part, that means putting more time, energy, and investment into something we’ve always believed in: conversation.

 If you’ve spent any time around us, you’ll know of the Smoke Screen podcast – The Security Breakdown. Jack and I have been steadily driving it forward from the start, with Scott increasingly stepping into the frame as things ramp up.

 Industry hot topics, shared experiences, different perspectives, the odd tangent… all the good stuff.

 It’s also been, if I’m honest, a bit sporadic.

 In 2025 we had one guest every couple of months, give or take. Not for lack of interest – more because events, travel, and everything else inevitably took centre stage.

 That happens. But 2026 already feels different.

 Part of that difference, for me at least, is learning when to step back a touch. As the podcast grows, I’m consciously handing more of the reins to Jack and Scott – letting them shape the conversations and push it forward in their own way.

 So yeah, this year’s off to a flyer.

 We’ve got a guest lined up for every single week in February. Pedal firmly to the metal. I’m genuinely excited about the calibre of people who’ve said yes, too.

 Here’s who we’ve got on the airwaves in the coming month:

• Heidi Laybourn, Client Services Manager at Lodge Security
• Lisa Maslen, Superintendent at City of London Police
• Stuart Codling, Chief Inspector at Thames Valley Police
• Sophie Jordan, CEO at the National Association of Business Crime Partnerships

Not a shabby line-up by anyone’s standards!

What’s been particularly encouraging is the appetite. People want to be involved. They want to talk openly about the challenges facing the sector and where things might be heading (hopefully not a state of all-out geopolitical turmoil).

It tells me there’s something worth leaning into. The format works. The conversations matter.

We’ve seen it before. Our chat with Anastasia Pelser from Online Intelligence last year – digging into the surge in petrol station bombings in South Africa – became our most-watched episode to date.

Seeing those viewership stats come through was a bit of a lightbulb moment. When you get the right people talking about the right issues, there’s a real appetite for it.

Up until now, we’ve always invited guests to our site to record. It works well – we’ve put effort into making the studio a nice place to sit and chat, and production value matters to us.

But as the guest list has grown, reality has kicked in.

Some of these people are flat out. Logistically, getting them to us just doesn’t work.

So we’re adapting.

For a few upcoming episodes, we’re hiring studios closer to the guests. Taking the studio to them, as it were. It’s a small shift, but an important one. If the aim is better conversation, you remove the barriers where you can.

We’re not suddenly promising a podcast episode every week, forever. That’d be wild.

These things take time – editing, sound balancing, all the behind-the-scenes bits that people never see but absolutely notice when they’re not done properly.

But the momentum is there. And I can’t help but feel that counts for a lot.

The other day, Jack also floated the idea of a sort of podcast roadshow – recording interviews on the road when we’re at events. A mobile studio of sorts. The famous Smoke Screen van gets all up in the action.

A bit of a left turn given we’ve worked hard to shape up the studio. But I do really like the idea of chatting to different folks at events up and down the nation.

When you break it down, this renewed focus on The Security Breakdown is about the same thing most of what we do is about: connecting people, sharing insight, and lifting the quality of discussion across the industry.

We’re not short of opinions in security. What we sometimes lack is the space to unpack them properly.

So yeah – 2026 might be giving an immediate platform to global chaos, but it also feels like the year our podcast gets a new lease of life. Do with that information what you will.

If any of this sounds like your sort of thing, you can subscribe to our YouTube channel here to catch upcoming episodes of The Security Breakdown as they land.

I suppose amidst all the noise, it’s always good to slow down and talk things through.