Contract guarding company St James Security is ten years old.
On March 1, 1997, Peter Durham QPM, Managing Director, formally opened the doors at their offices in Allison Court, MetroCentre, to commence trading in the Manned guarding industry.
From humble beginnings, with literally no business, within 18 months the firm became an ISO 9002 accredited company, and within two years were a principal member of the British Security Industry Association. At the two year mark business opportunities took the firm to Scotland where it opened a regional office in East Kilbride, followed by a London office, now in Uxbridge.
Peter Durham is a former Northumbria Police superintendent. He recallss that from day one the aim was to target and represent a blue chip client base needing quality, fully screened, security personnel that would represent their quality business.
He says: “In that 10 years of our business operation, the security industry has massively changed. Public perception of security personnel is now much more enhanced, particularly since 9-11. The recent creation of the Security Industry Authority by government has brought the industry to a new dawn, where a compulsory level of training, criminal record checks and intense background screening gives buyers of security services the supreme confidence to place their business with us. As part of the SIA’s implementation of standards, we were one of the very first companies nationally to be awarded the highest accreditation of Approved Contractor Status. The ACS status is in fact a charter mark which gives a clear indication to buyers that our company has been meticulously independently inspected, and meets the highest possible standards in our business operation, business ethics, corporate social responsibility, and a whole raft of other measurement factors. At the conclusion of our inspection, the SIA Inspectorate stated that ‘We set the standard by which others are judged’.”
The company reports that it still retains a large portfolio of our business in the north east, with many of its initial contracts still in place from 1997. There are 550 full time personnel , contracts extending from Glasgow to Taunton, and Birmingham to Great Yarmouth. A specialism is shopping centres. Hence in October 2005 the company merged with US shopping mall guard firm IPC International Corporation.
