The ABI provides professional development to the private-sector investigation industry.
The ABI, as the key professional body for investigators, provides training to serve two main functions.
To provide industry-relevant training by means of seminars and workshops.
To give sector-specific UK GDPR compliance training, which will show that you can and want to work in a legal and competent way and will also be accepted as the first step toward becoming an ABI member.
In the absence of licensing, the ABI is a trusted and authoritative body for:
Professional Investigators in private practice are seeing more and more enquiries that would once have been tackled by their counterparts in the public sector law enforcement fields.
Cutbacks and growing demands have taken their toll on licensing authorities, police, trading standards, regulators, health and safety executive and local authorities.
The investigative services provided by such bodies are still in demand from the public who often turn to the private sector and the civil courts as an alternative.
That demand is accompanied by a need for better knowledge in the investigation sector. It has created an appetite for training.
Traditional career paths are changing. Manufacturing industry, military jobs, public sector service occupations have all changed and reduced in the past decade while the legal sector has expanded. Voids have appeared and the ever-changing career landscape has begun to attract people into the private sector investigation sphere, which has, itself, grown and become far more sophisticated.
At one time, the reputation of the industry was such that it was often an amateurish, part time job carried out by chancers. Gradually, the profession has evolved and it is still maturing now.
If you are truly serious about being a professional investigator, about learning, about running a proper business, about compliance and continual development then, luckily for you, you have arrived at the right place. Feel free to browse our forthcoming events and book your places.
The recognised and accredited qualification is the SFJ Awards Level 3 Award for Professional Investigators.
Regardless of investigative experience you may qualify to study through distance learning with a trainer approved by the ABI Academy. The course is extremely cost-effecive, fees are found in the course details.
At the end of your training, you’ll take two exams:
Unit 1: Principles of Planning and Reporting Investigations
Unit 2: Principles of Gathering and Using Information for Investigations
The ABI is the only professional body in this industry to be working with the Law Society of England and Wales.
The highest independent professional bodies for solicitors put their trust in us.
We're confident you can do the same.
The ABI's other partners also recognise the value of affiliation with the principal professional body in the investigation and litigation support sectors.
The ICO-approved ABI UK GDPR Code of Conduct for Investigative and Litigation Support Services affords the ABI the ultimate sector-specific accreditation, offering three key opportunities, each with unique advantages:
Trust and respect must be earned, not claimed through a sense of entitlement.
