This week Steve Wilcock, Founder of Marshal Eye, was invited to Manchester Airport to talk about incident response and demonstrate how the platform could support staff during critical events.
With over 25 million passengers travelling through every year, Manchester is the UK’s third busiest airport and presents one of the most complex safety environments imaginable. The sheer size of the site, spread across multiple terminals and operations, means that coordinating staff during an emergency is no small task.
The session was less about showing technology for technology’s sake and more about exploring real-world challenges: how to get the right people to the right role quickly, how to communicate discreetly without alarming the public, and how to make sure nothing gets overlooked when the pressure is on.
Steve highlighted how Marshal Eye could help by allowing staff to:
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Send critical alerts and communicate quietly in fast-moving situations
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Claim roles and tasks digitally in real time, rather than relying on fixed pre-assignments
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Capture every action in a time-stamped record, useful for debriefs and continuous improvement
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Generate automatic reports after incidents or drills, creating a clear audit trail
One of the unique challenges discussed was that Manchester Airport has become extremely effective at managing false alarms. While this is positive, it also means staff have fewer opportunities to rehearse real emergency drills. As a 24/7 operation, running full-scale evacuations can be highly disruptive and extremely costly.
For Steve, this made it particularly rewarding to demonstrate how Marshal Eye can deliver non-disruptive digital drillswithin the app. Staff can practice response processes without interrupting operations, and leadership teams can then review a comprehensive PDF debrief report – a time-stamped account of every action taken during the exercise. This capability was recognised as a significant selling point during the session.
What stood out most to Steve was the positive engagement from the team. Airports face unique pressures not just the day-to-day flow of people and operations, but also the responsibility to be prepared for the unexpected. Knowing that a digital tool like Marshal Eye could help provide structure and peace of mind was reassuring for everyone in the room.
It is still early days, but to be invited to share this approach at such a significant site felt like an important step forward. With the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 (Martyn’s Law) now on the horizon, airports and other public venues are preparing for new requirements, and it was encouraging to see Manchester Airport already engaging with these conversations.
For Steve, it was another reminder of why he started this journey in the first place: to make sure that when it matters most, nothing is forgotten.
