The Shield Guarding Company Limited, the UK guarding company owned by the Indian company TOPSGRUP, has appointed John Roddy as its
new Managing Director.
With more than 20 years in the field of security services, John Roddy joins The Shield Guarding Company Limited having been Operations Director – UK at Initial Security Limited, and Group Managing Director with Oltec Group Facilities Management. At Oltec he steered business from its original retail guarding operation into facilities management services across various sectors around the UK and Ireland.
John has managed £150m UK portfolio business throughout the UK and in has a full experience with the London market developing strong relationships within the financial and blue chip sectors throughout the UK.
He gained further regional experience under his role of General Manager at Reliance Security Services Ltd, where he managed guarding and operational services across the Midlands and North West England, with a £55m portfolio. John Roddy will manage the company’s 2000workforce spread across its six offices: in Scotland, the North of England, Midlands, south west, two offices in Greater London and the south east.
John Roddy began his career as a Detective of the CID and Regional Crime Squad within the Greater Manchester Police. He said: “The Shield Guarding Company Limited is the market leader in terms of unrivalled quality and service. The role of Managing Director of this company is one that comes with pride and responsibility. My understanding of the UK Security market is key to my new role, and I believe my leadership, management and commercial expertise will enable me to support the board and regional teams to further expand its national capability at the same time introducing additional security services to assist our valued and impressive portfolio of customers.
“Under the ownership of TOPSGRUP, The Shield Guarding Company Limited has quickly made remarkable advances to the attention of the entire security force in the UK. I endeavour to continue this through my role as Managing Director, and look forward to working with the team.”
Stuart Kedward, Executive Director, will continue to remain on the board of the company as a Non-Executive Director. With projected sales of £58.5 million for fiscal year 2012-2013, The Shield Guarding Company Limited works within the commercial, industrial, charitable and public arena. As the most recent acquisition of Indian security giant TOPSGRUP, The Shield Guarding Company Limited is itself a symbol of TOPSGRUP’s growth within the global security sector. The Shield recently activated an Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC) in Preston, weeks after the acquisition. ARC will be full Category II status and compliant with BS5979 and will enhance the range of services that the Company can provide to its clients.
Having started off as an ailing company with just eight customers, TOPSGRUP now comprises 93,000 employees who service over 8000 customers via 12 companies.
The Global Chairman of TOPSGRUP and leading visionary of the security industry, Dr Richie Nanda said: “With TOPSGRUP’s acquisition of The Shield Guarding Company Limited, we are committed to the British security industry, our customers and our employees. John provided the most able set of hands to fulfill this commitment on behalf of TOPSGRUP, and we have full faith in his ability to enhance the company’s services and grow the company to even greater heights. Building an incredibly able team is a stepping stone to maintaining the unrivalled standards of security and service that TOPSGRUP and The Shield Guarding Company Limited maintain globally.”
