LOCKPOINT has secured its first order outside the UK. The Newcastle-based company has a deal with an international security company to supply its Gryphon3 product to the Greek market as part of a trial. The value of the contract has not been disclosed. This follows a rising threat to Greece’s cashpoint machines from armed gangs and reckless criminals who (as in other countries) blow up cash machines by injecting gases to blow off the doors so they can access the cash inside. The resulting explosion can cause damage and threaten life.
Lockpoint Chief Executive Bill Price said: “The ability of our Gryphon3 to provide the ultimate protection against both armed attack and gangs with explosives makes it the ideal product to counter the twin threats in Greece. The Gryphon will not prevent attacks but if the cash is protected, experience shows the threat quickly declines.”
The company’s original Gryphon was developed to counter the threat from armed gangs to the cash teams who replenish ATMs. It comprises a set of interlocking steel doors that protect the four ATM cash drawers. As no more than one door can be open at any time, it makes the ATM a less attractive target for criminals.
Lockpoint says that its Gryphon3 has evolved to counter the more recent threat from gangs using explosive gases. Explosive attacks have been causing growing concern in Greece and have also posed a threat in the UK in recent years. The first gas attack in the UK was in 2013; since then banks and other ATM owners have racked up seven-figure losses in cash and other damage caused when the gangs, who show little regard for public or their own safety, inject acetylene or other gas into cash machines and blow them up.
Lockpoint began development of the Gryphon3 when it became clear that the original Gryphon could also protect an ATM against explosive attack but needed some modifications. The company teamed up with the explosion research company, Gexcon, and proved the product’s resilience in both laboratory and then in front of an invited industry audience. The Gryphon3 does not prevent explosions but, by protecting the cash, deters would-be robbers.
Among witnesses at the live testing was DC Adrian Roberts, of the West Midlands Organised Crime Unit and UK representative to Interpol on ATM gas attacks. He said afterwards: “I am really impressed. The machine protected the cash, which is obviously what the criminals are after, and hopefully it will be a massive deterrent to them.”
Bill Price added: “We are especially pleased to notch up this export sale, having worked hard with our partners at UK Trade & Investment to improve our international communication message.”
Lockpoint Operations Director Colin Doyle is pictured.
