The Shield Group named Security Solutions Specialist of the Year
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The Shield Group is an award-winning total security solutions company which has been at the forefront of the industry since its inception 25 years ago. The group has been recognised following a successful acquisition by India’s largest security company, TOPSGRUP, which was led by global security magnate Executive Chairman, Dr Richie Nanda. In July 2012, Dr Nanda completed a £19.5 million acquisition of The Shield Group, initiated with a 51% controlling stake in 2008.
The acquisition enabled the company to make vital in-roads into the regional UK security market, therefore transforming The Shield Group into a leading national security provider. The company has since launched several new offices across the UK, including its regional headquarter in Manchester, and increased staff to 2,500 and customers to 400. It has hired seven managing and regional Directors, invested over £1m into an NSI Gold certified alarm-monitoring centre in Preston and launched new business divisions – Shield Guarding and Shield Strategic Solutions with sub-verticals Shield Consults, Shield Monitoring Services and Shield Vetting - to offer a bespoke security service to clients. Furthermore, under Dr Nanda’s leadership, the business has secured a number of high-profile contracts, including The Imperial War Museum and Bournemouth University and only recently announced the launch of its new regional headquarters in Manchester.
All of these changes helped increase revenues from £61M (2013) to £81M (projected for 2014). With a growth in EBIDTA of 67% from the last financial year, the combined turnover for Topsgrup and Shield this financial year is expected to be £170m.
Dr Nanda (right), Executive Chairman of The Shield Group said: ‘We are truly excited to have been named the Security Solutions Specialist of the Year. We have had an exceptional 12 months with increasing growth and new business wins. This award is testament to the team’s remarkable work ethic and our world class services and products. Though this assertion brings great pride to The Shield Group, it also brings a lot of responsibility and we endeavour to uphold the trust and loyalty that our clients put into our services.’
Speaking about the award win, John Roddy, Chief Executive of The Shield Group added: ‘This is great news and I am pleased for everyone at The Shield Group. We place a lot of emphasis on our specialised security model, Total Security Solutions (TSS), which is paying dividends.
“The acquisition from TOPSGRUP has allowed us to combine expertise and innovative knowledge to better our offering to clients whilst benefiting from economies of scale. This is further endorsement of our benchmarking security solution offering and we look forward to the challenge of continuing the tradition of pushing innovation within the industry’.
With projected sales of over £80 million for the fiscal year 2014-15, The Shield Group has been undergoing a major transformation since it was taken over in 2012 by India’s leading and largest security company, TOPSGRUP. Late last year, The Shield Group launched four strategic verticals combining traditional man-power and innovative technology, to deliver intelligent, risk-based Total Security Solutions (TSS) to its customers. That same year, John Roddy, who has over 30 years’ experience in the UK and European security sector, was appointed Chief Executive of the company, with a vision of making it one of the top five security providers in the UK.
