A south west security company has had a double birthday. Family owned Securi-Guard marked 30 years in business and 15 years of its Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC) with a refit. The Plymouth-based firm has been under the same family directorship since April 1982 when current chairman Bill Boyd bought the original company Smith’s Property Protection and rebranded it Securi-Guard.
His son and daughter, Managing Director (Operations) Scott Boyd and Kim Precious Managing Director (Administration) now share day to day management of the company and celebrated the landmark.
“From an original staff of four, the company now has an annual turnover of £8 million, something we are all very proud of. What is also nice is that a number of staff are related through marriage so it really does feel like an extended family business,” said Kim.
“We now look forward to another 30 years and it will be amazing to see where security technology is when we celebrate that birthday!”
Meanwhile, the major refit of the ARC – which began operations in January 1997 – has been carried out by the company who built the security firm’s first ever control room.
It is more than 20 years since Plymouth-based Shop Fitting by SWS built the first control room at Securi-Guard’s the HQ in Roborough, Plymouth – and they have been back again to carry out the latest refit.
The very latest technology has been installed in the centre as part of the refurbishment, which also included new custom built furniture for the operators, kitchen facilities and improved flooring, ceilings and wall coverings.
Securi-Guard’s 60 plus strong monitoring team was moved to another area within the secure building and maintained a normal service throughout the period of the refurbishment, which took just two weeks to complete.
The refit also coincides with the pending launch of a new website for the company’s monitoring services www.securi-guardmonitoring.co.uk <http://www.securiguardmonitoring.co.uk> , developed by Plymouth-based agency Real Fusion Creative.
Alarm Receiving Centre manager Mary Campbell said some of the equipment and surroundings were in need of updating to ensure the ARC was operating at an optimum level.
“Existing equipment was more than capable for the job, but the new bigger screens will greatly enhance our CCTV monitoring service to all clients and we also took the opportunity to improve the working environment for our staff,” said Mary.
“The ARC is a key part of our business and we want to ensure we are making use of the best available technology as well as creating the best possible working environment for our monitoring staff.”
Colin Kalas, Managing Director of Shop Fitting by SWS, said: “Securi-Guard’s first control room was also my first major project as a shopfitter, so it was a great privilege to be invited back to carry out the new re-fit.
“Technology has changed quite dramatically in that time and this is certainly reflected in the new refit. It will probably be very different again in another 20 years time.”
Pictured left to right are Kim Precious Managing Director ( Administration) and Scott Boyd Managing Director (Operations). Photo Guy Channing.
