A DROITWICH company has been personally thanked for its part in helping to protect former US president Bill Clinton.

Quality Training Alliance, in South Park Drive, trained the security staff who looked after Mr Clinton at the Labour Party Conference, in Blackpool, in October.

Phil Sadler, senior partner at Quality Training Alliance, received a letter of thanks from the head of the security firm that provided the officers, for the design and delivery of the training modules.

Tony Blair also wrote to the company that supplied the security staff, saying how impressed he was and how he thought the security had been carried out in a "thorough and quietly efficient manner".

"With high profile speakers such as the former US President and the current tense international climate, security had never been more of an issue," said Mr Sadler.

"With five days devoted to the conference, security personnel needed to be on their toes at all times."

Mr Sadler and his partner Phil Ruggiero, who lives in Droitwich, set up Quality Training Alliance two years ago.

For the conference, Mr Sadler trained about 200 members of staff from security company Group 4 using three specially-designed modules called "movements of secure transport", "profiling individuals" and "airport-style searching".

Neil Forshaw, of Group 4, said in his letter to Mr Sadler that his officers were "able to perform effectively and with confidence" following the conference.

Mr Forshaw also said he had received "excellent feedback" from the Lancashire Constabulary, the Labour Party and the general public.

Quality Training Alliance trains all kinds of security personnel and provides training for the world's leading providers of security officers, including Group 4 and Securitas.

The team of nine people all have hands-on experience of the security industry and are all SITO (Security Industry Training Organisation) qualified.

The company has also recently obtained a licence from CompassVision, a training course development company in Scotland, to deliver specialist training to the retail industry.

It also provides business coaching to a number of small and medium sized companies to maximise their profitability.

Further information can be obtained by visiting the Quality Training Alliance website, www.train4security.co.uk.