operations officer

commercial manager

travel coordinator

operations coordinator

management accountant

Ambrey

Having worked with the company for a few years, there has been a huge staff turnover rate during my time there, both in the Coordinator pool, and then both also in the Operations and Commercial Manager pool.

Senior management are reluctant to listen to those in these teams and hold monthly meetings to discuss issues - in which the team when raising issues are instantly shot down and nothing comes from it. Majority of the team remain unhappy and are looking for work elsewhere because of this. Issues have been raised for well over a year with the promise of "support is coming" - yet the team are still waiting for said promised support 1-2 years later.

Management are reactive instead of proactive. It is expected for transit numbers to be hit before a new operations manager can be recruited; keeping in mind it takes 3-6 months probationary for this new Junior Ops Manager to be fully up and running solo. By which time, a new target is hit, and another has to be recruited if you're lucky. In most cases, senior management turn around and say "No" to more Ops Managers, and everyone is then expected to pick up the slack.

Duty is meant to be 1 in 4, however some are working every other week, with the decision to remove the Ops Manager 2ic position and leave just 2 ics, this means they have been working every other week - be it on duty itself, or on call 24/7 to assist. It is expected that OMs log on out of hours to work with no incentive of overtime pay or time back in lieu, but just because of "team culture" and "The Ambrey Way".

Senior Management have decided instead of looking into the cause for high turnover rate and wanting to fix the problems internally, that they will instead hire a specific Training Manager to focus purely on training all the new members to the teams - which will mean turnover will remain high as issues are not resolved. All this does is act as a buffer to help negate the negative effect of an experienced team member leaving, instead of fully removing said negative effect by keeping that team member happy and treated like a human being.

Please note - dates issued for when working here are vague. I have not stated if I do or do not still work for Ambrey as I wish it to be untraceable.

I worked at head office for three years and was present during considerable growth in the company. Senior staff live in another world from those in the operations room (the organisation and running of the busines.)

While it's great for building a CV as you get alot of experience that unfortunately becomes a downside very quickly as those at the top have a clear disconnect from how the operations are run day to day. Throughout my time the same issues arose. Not enough people and a workload that reflects this. Senior management are reluctant to take any critism and lash out when challenged. The only reason worth staying for so long was the team however most were burnt out and actively looking for new jobs.

Staff members were treated differently for seemingly no reason with rules applied to some cases being forgotten about for others. 

Pay rises were promised and staff were strung along for months with no resolution. I left before a verdict was reached but this was months after the deadline for news on pay had passed.

Training was abhorrent, often being given a handout and left to figure it out and weekly performance reviews were missed constantly however a new training manager and system was being introduced so hopefully this improves.

Shifts could be 7 to 9 days long dependant on staffing issues and bank holidays had to be worked with the only benefit being a day back in leiu. Weekend shifts were hellish expecting 2/3 people to run a 20 person workload.

The pay does not reflect what you'll be dealing with. Working in security there is always the risk of death however there was basically no training on dealing with it. Examples of things I dealt with were terrorist attacks, bombings, deaths of consultants and pirates attacks.

To summarise Ambrey is a very unique company with many strange challenges. While the team itself is amazing the constant bad planning from superiors and poor staffing causes an unyielding amount of stress and made a work life balance near impossible.

Worked for Ambrey for a number of years. They were a really good company at the start, really looking after the deployed guards, then it all went downhill really quick. 

They started to employ foreign nationals, mainly from India and Sri Lanka, the majority of whom had fake documents and lied about being ex military, not good in an industry where we use weapons to protect shipping. 

They use holding vessels that the lads go on in-between tasks, these are always over crowded and the food is substandard. 

There wasn't a pay rise the whole time I worked for them, only pay cuts. And with the current situation in the Red Sea/Gulf of Aden, they are not getting paid any more, even with the high risk to vessels in that area. 

For a long time we had to pay for our own food whilst deployed, absolutely disgusting for a company who employs people abroad. Though this changed just before I left. 

The best thing I ever did was leave this company and move to another Maritime company, one that pays more and values their staff. 





 

Being a Maritime security consultant was a rewarding career but was also very difficult and put a strain on my family life as it involved long trips overseas. The company I worked for started in 2011 and is now probably the biggest in the industry, they have a large team that manages the day to day running so it is effective but sometimes information wasn't relayed very effectively. We recruited security operatives initially all from the UK that has now changed significantly due to the reduction of salaries and now they primarily recruit from India and Poland. The hardest part of the job was most definitely the time spent away from my young children and having to readjust when I returned, the most rewarding part of the job is probably the travelling around and the amount of new experiences you get on a daily basis its very challenging.

I was there a few months and I was micromanaged everyday. I had my emails checked on a daily basis even when all I want to do is say thank you to someone but yet I was employed as a manager.
I'm wasnt allowed to take meetings without being watched.
I'm wasnt allowed to change anything ..... Just in case!
They had paperwork and files from 2012 just sat there but I couldnt delete them ...... Just in case!
Despite using CRM they have spreadsheet for spreadsheet and to find a spreadsheet on weapons you don't look in the weapons folder you look in a villa folder...... because that makes sense. 
The wages are awful for the amount of work required and expected. People don't often have a lunch break they eat and drink at their desks. 
In general the company needs to take a long look at how they treat their staff and make a lot of changes.

As with Maritime security its just a daily routine when on the vessel. Typical day, get up for watch - 3 or 4 hours depending on team size, then the rest of the day is yours, but you are on standby 24/7 in case of pirate attacks or any other security related situation that occurs. Management is usually good, paperwork is easy to administer on task. The teams are generally very good with little or no friction between co-workers. Hardest part is the job itself, dealing with the boredom during work and also getting on and off a vessel. The most enjoyable part of the job is weapon training and getting paid, you also get time in countries to spend while waiting on a vessel,

Ambrey is a very interesting company; the broad range of experience you will gain is so valuable.
There are many different career opportunities and the company is really keen to promote people from an entry level role through to a Manager or even Director role, which is great if you are looking to further your career.
Staff work hard and play hard; there is a Social Club committee who plan the Summer and Christmas parties as well as social activities such as fun runs, team lunches, BBQs and more! 
There is a strong sense of collaboration within the teams and everyone is friendly and willing to help each other out when needed.  

Didn't have the best experience in terms of training, its an employer of churn and greed.

Would not recommend this company as its set in its ways and will not listen to change to help the organisation and the working culture. Long hours with little thanks, no rewards and no over time paid. 

The management have no management skills with poor attitude and bullying. Does not comply with ISO requirement, how Ambrey still holds a licence is beyond me.

HR is aware of the problems the company faces but told me she had more pressing matters than that of employees welfare

Approach with caution

world wide travel, securing ships against pirate attack.
interacting with crew and officers on a daily basis. plenty of time for fitness.
learnt how to protect ships at sea from pirate attack, with minimal stores kit.
good management team, from director down.
co-workers are all from the same background and easy to get on with.
hardest part of the job is leaving your family in the UK.
most enjoyable is seeing different parts of the world.

Ambrey is a formidable powerhouse in the maritime security industry. It is an exciting place to work, where no two days are the same, and as an industry leader Ambrey is at the forefront of developments in the market. 

Staff at Ambrey work hard and play hard, they support each other and collaborate across a number of departments and offices around the globe. 

If you enjoy a challenge and want to progress your career with a market leader then Ambrey is the place for you.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Operations officer 5 salaries reported	£30,750 per year
Commercial manager 2 salaries reported	£30,375 per year
Travel coordinator 1 salary reported	£28,750 per year
Operations coordinator 7 salaries reported	£19,857 per year
Management accountant 1 salary reported	£41,250 per year

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