The acquisition will significantly strengthen the strategic development of G4S’ covert surveillance and investigations capability, allowing the organisation to embed increased intelligence offerings into its service portfolio and introduce these offerings as part of its existing solutions-based contracts.
Adding to similar services offered in the US, Middle East and Asia Pacific, with this acquisition G4S will become the global leader in the investigation of insurance fraud (which is estimated to cost in excess of $200 billion each year.
The buy-out of The Cotswold Group also:
Emphasis on personal injury fraud
The Cotswold Group is the largest provider of surveillance and investigative services to insurance clients within the UK, with a strong emphasis on personal injury fraud.
It offers a range of surveillance and investigation services in property, motor and personal injury insurance claims, employers and public liability, employee screening, housing benefit fraud and corporate investigations.
The Cotswold Group was founded in 1990 by Tom Scott, its current CEO and a former police officer who specialised in covert surveillance and combating serious and organised crime.
Scott will continue to manage the business following the acquisition.
The Cotswold Group is headquartered in Gloucester and currently employs 260 staff, 120 of whom are investigators located across Europe.
Making a difference to the business
David Taylor-Smith, the regional CEO for G4S UK and Africa, commented: “We’re very pleased to welcome Tom and his team to G4S, and expect them to make a real difference to our business. We believe their market leadership, extensive client base and unmatched track record of delivery in this highly specialist area will underpin our consultancy offering here in the UK and overseas.”
Tom Scott commented: “We’re very excited about the opportunities for our employees and our company through becoming part of the G4S family. We believe The Cotswold Group is highly complementary to G4S’ existing operations around the world, and that we will bring many new capabilities to G4S and its customers.”
In conclusion, Scott stated: “The opportunity to create a major force in investigation services and to work with G4S teams in the UK and globally is an extremely exciting prospect.”
G4S takes second place at Britain’s Top Employer Awards 2011
G4S was recognised as the second highest ranking large organisation among this year’s Britain’s Top Employers by the CRF Institute at the latter’s prestigious awards dinner, held last week at The Landmark Hotel in London in recognition of the companies that have met the highest standards in the Human Resources field.
Although G4S has over 600,000 employees worldwide, the company “makes a conscious effort to treat its employees as individuals” and “gives them every opportunity to flourish”.
Certainly, the company’s sheer breadth of operations leads to an amazing choice of career options and great opportunities to work abroad.
G4S firmly believes that the development of its own talent internally is essential to its continued success.
Empowering staff to unlock their full potential
Group HR Director Irene Cowden explained: “We’re very proud of our success, and are committed to employing the best people and empowering them to unlock their full potential so they can build rewarding, long term careers. To be acknowledged by Britain’s Top Employer is an accolade of which we are very proud.”
The certification is based on independent research by the CRF Institute and an auditing process conducted by Grant Thornton. This hows that those organisations have outstanding HR policies and offer excellent working conditions.
No less than 58 organisations were certified in this year’s Britain’s Top Employers project, with companies judged on the basis of their scores in these HR areas: primary benefits, secondary benefits and working conditions, training and development, career development and company culture.
“The combination of an aging workforce, the economic recovery and staff shortages in certain industries is making employers increasingly aware of the importance of selecting and retaining the right people, and making sure they come to work every day feeling motivated and engaged,” explained Steven Veenendaal, CEO of the CRF Institute.
“The 58 certified organisations have put the welfare of their employees at the top of their list of priorities, and are doing exceptionally well in offering their employees the best working conditions. You will see that translated in the long-term sustainability of these companies.”
Combination of research, certification and promotion
The CRF Institute has 20 years’ experience in supporting organisations in creating genuine and differentiated employer brands.
The Britain’s Top Employers project is a unique combination of HR policy-based research, certification and promotion. All participants have completed a comprehensive research programme called the HR Best Practices Survey, designed to give deep insights into a company’s performance across 11 key areas of HR practice.
For further details on all the certified companies, log onto Britain’s Top Employers’ website and The Daily Telegraph’s microsite (both links can be found on the right hand panel of this page)
G4S warns of Bribery Act prosecution for failure to screen employees
A quarter of CVs contain significant inaccuracies, lies or discrepancies and G4S Employment Screening and Vetting is warning that employers face the risk of prosecution under the new Bribery Act if they fail to screen and vet their employees in the proper fashion.
The company says that up to one-in-four CVs contain significant inaccuracies, lies or discrepancies, and that firms could be accused of failing to undertake sufficient due diligence should they fail to develop procedures to perform appropriate checks on their staff.
The Bribery Act has raised concerns among company directors, many of whom are unsure as to how strictly it will be implemented, and who are confused about issues such as whether foreign companies listed in London will be subject to the Act.
The Government has stated that the Act will come into force three months after its guidance is produced.
Compromising a given company’s reputation
G4S believes that by failing to undertake basic screening and vetting programmes, employers are in danger of employing unsuitable staff who could compromise the reputation of the company, and ultimately expose a business to prosecution under the Act.
Standard screening processes used by specialists such as G4S include credit checks, criminal record checking and employment history, which can reveal previous instances of dishonest behaviour or financial problems.
Adrian Taylor, the managing director of G4S Employment Screening and Vetting, said: “Compliance and risk mitigation in the recruitment process is increasingly important for organisations. The Bribery Act is just another example of increased people-related regulatory compliance demands on companies.”
Taylor went on to state: “Our experience shows that people frequently hide things from their employer. The difference now is that if a criminal act takes place, it will be incumbent on the employer to prove that it has performed sufficient background checks on the individual concerned.”
G4S says that the Act will serve as a driver to raise the level of due diligence carried out by the Human Resources function of companies.
Pattern of increasing regulation
“The Bribery Act is just part of a pattern of increasing regulation that will transform comprehensive screening and vetting for employees from a ‘nice to have’ to a core HR process,” said Taylor.
“Businesses are becoming very aware of their Duty of Care to employees and customers. In a globalised marketplace, establishing an individual’s identity, employment status and credentials is absolutely vital.”
G4S employs a team of highly trained and experienced staff to deliver both structured screening services to comply with British Standards and bespoke packages according to each individual customer’s need.
The services provided include:
Shame the company name sounds like Cotswold Security Group which is a rogue security company based in Eveaham