As reported on Info4Security, Topsgrup originally acquired a majority stake in The Shield Guarding Company back in 2008, and has now taken up its option to purchase a 100% stake in the company.
As part of the acquisition deal, Shield’s management team will remain in place with Stuart Kedward – who has been with The Shield Guarding Company for 15 years – taking on the role of managing director.
The official press statement sent to Info4Security reads as follows: “The company will ensure that its reputation for superior service and quality for its clients continues to be unaffected.”
Speaking about the acquisition, Dr Diwan Rahul Nanda – global chairman at Topsgrup – explained: “We welcome this acquisition as it’s a strategic decision on our part to tie-up with one of the UK’s leading security firms.”
Dr Nanda went on to state: “The Shield Guarding Company is unrivalled in terms of its quality and service delivery. The continued efforts and enormous hard work of my incredible teams at both Topsgrup and The Shield Guarding Company will ensure that we go from strength to strength and create a truly global security service to better others.”
Award-winning security solutions provider
The Shield Guarding Company is an innovative provider of security services for internationally recognised brands in the commercial, industrial, charitable and public sectors, and the 2009 victor in the Security Guarding Company of the Year category at the prestigious Security Excellence Awards.
The company won a further two awards in 2011, and is an Approved Contractor with the Security Industry Authority for the provision of security guarding, door supervision, key holding and CCTV services to a range of customers across vertical markets.
This guarding specialist presently employs 2,000 people and operates out of six offices in the UK. It’s also in the process of mobilising an Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC), which is set to ‘go live’ next month and, in turn, enhance the range of services the company can offer both current and prospective customers.
Indeed, the company made a conscious decision not to provide any services around the forthcoming Olympic Games in order to concentrate its efforts on maintaining full and consistent security services for existing customers.
Opening of the National Training Centre
The Shield Guarding Company was formed in London in 1986 with the express intention of offering a wholly professional and reliable service.
In these early years the emphasis was very much on providing officers of a “military level of appearance, self-reliance and motivation”. According to the company’s website: “This contrasted with the standard of officer publicly associated with the service and proved highly popular with London’s blue chip companies.”
As industry pay and conditions have improved, Shield has been able to build on this foundation of reliability and motivation with recognised advancements in the areas of customer care and both back of house and front of house services.
Expanding from its Kennington base in London, Shield opened a Thames Valley office in 1999 and a northern office in Manchester soon after. In 2008, the National Training Centre was opened near headquarters, allowing the company to expand still further on its important commitment to training.
A national supplier, The Shield Guarding Company’s reputation has been strengthened through investment in the selection, recruitment and training of its officers and staff. All are focused on providing a high quality service underpinned by first class management.
Active in the wider security community
Constantly at the forefront of new standards and accreditations, the company is ISO: 9001 compliant and NSI Guarding Gold approved.
To its great credit, The Shield Guarding Company is extremely active in the wider security community when it comes to promoting Best Practice and information awareness.
Thursday 3 May, for example, witnessed the organisation presenting another of its security seminars. Held at the Institute of Directors, the theme this time around was: ‘Terrorism, Demonstrations and the Policing of Public Disorder’.
Expert speakers included chief superintendent Colin Morgan of the Metropolitan Police Service’s Public Order and Operational Support Branch and inspector Tom Wingate from the Met’s Olympic Community Relations Team.
The Shield Guarding Company’s clients, personnel and other security professionals in attendance duly attested to the relevance of the talks and the benefits they provided in terms of planning for the momentous summer Games now drawing ever closer.
