Networking, offering yourself to charities to widen you 'Skill Set'?

Agree with Pikeman and Clive, you should also try and think outside the box about the areas you may have experience in. I know of a couple of ex police safety people who have made the transition to event safety management. Their past experience of crowd management, traffic management etc has been useful to them.

Good Luck.

I'd say completely the opposite. Having a niche will allow you to differentiate yourself from everyone else.

Taking DSE. How many thousands of people have that skill? On the other hand many companies (particularly major hazard operations) require their own emergency arrangements but there are relatively few people who have a mix of that experience combined with H&S competence.

What sort of job do you have in mind? It sounds like you are thinking of consultancy. That is potentially a very good option, but you do need to understand how the business works. I also think there will be opportunities for you in private and public organisations outside of the emergency services, although you may need to be willing to move to take advantage of these.

Clive I agree with a lot of what has already been mentioned, having a niche certainly can be positive as I have found, similarly a broader knowledge can improve your worth. I guess it really wouldn't hurt to do the latter. In terms of consultants, I have found there are a great deal who are like myself self-employed and even moreso now, as I have received a large number of calls and emails recently from consultants who have been 'laid off' by consultancies due to the 'downturn'.

Regarding work, again it depends if you don't mind travelling. I live in the Midlands but 75% of my work is in the South East. I travel about twice a week and then do the rest from home which I find fine, others might prefer to move. Opportunities......? I find them greater in the South East.

One thing I would say about consultancies, a good idea if you could find one that will take you on, it certainly was the greatest benefit I had in determining whether to 'go it alone' or not.
Best of luck.

Chaps,
Thanks very much for taking the time, and I hope this has been useful to others about to take the plunge!
I think the next stage is to investigate the 'hidden world' of consultancies - its been hidden to me anyway!
It will be interesting to see what these consultancies want in terms of experience - one would hope that 30 years worth of sorting out other people's problems (from individual household dramas to Major Incidents) would count for something. However, ensuring I have a broad base of knowledge must also be an essential.
Perhaps being where I am isn't so bad then, mainline rail, the M5 and Birmingham International just up the road.
Any additional thoughts would be most welcome!