The UK physical access control has gone down in recent years – but it could be worse, according to a market research company.
The UK access control market is estimated by Key Note to have been worth £301m at current end-user prices in 2012. That is down by 5.9 per cent from £320m in 2008, the start of the economic downturn. The researchers put this down to low business investment and a flagging construction sector. Population was rising, which ought to mean more residences and more demand for access products. However, the market researchers Key Note point to their April 2013 market report on UK CCTV, which found CCTV was affected worse by the recession than access.
Generally speaking, the market for access control systems and products, like with most other sectors of the security industry, is vulnerable to economic fluctuations. In times of economic hardship, business investment and construction activity are low, which will affect demand for access control. However, crime, including terrorism, will mean long-term demand for security products, including access control the research says.
Key Note estimates that there are around 200 companies involved in the supply of access control products to the UK market. The BSIA trade body has 38 access control members in 2013, up from 28 in 2000. The report profiles the two main distributors, ADI-Gardiner and NSD Realisations; and installers and manufacturers – ADT, ASSA Abloy, BPT Security Systems (UK), Chubb, Kaba, Newmarket Security, Secom, Siemens, and Stanley Security Solutions. The report also goes into buying behaviour, whether in healthcare, education, the public sector or industry, and makes forecasts to 2017. The researchers see only sluggish recovery of the UK economy and the housing market will slow market growth. Key Note forecasts the UK access control market will grow by 7.3 per cent between 2013 and 2017, to a value of £325m.
UK exports of videophone systems plummeted between 2009 and 2012, due mainly to a collapse in what North America bought. The global market for access control is estimated by Key Note to have been worth around £3.3bn in 2012. The US has the largest market for access products and systems, accounting for around a third of the global market, by value.
The report goes through the various types of access product, such as audio and video entry phones, keypads, proximity readers and smart cards. For example, as for biometrics, fingerprint ID systems have the largest market share of biometric access control systems. Facial recognition is growing in popularity within the aviation industry, with certain countries introducing passports that contain fingerprint and facial recognition. Iris recognition is also gaining, as it has an extremely high rate of accurate readings. Biometrics is still a relatively small market, however, due to user concerns over privacy and the time it takes to scan and verify.
For the full 86-page report visit www.keynote.co.uk. The company publishes more than 180 market reports a year.
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Key Note Ltd, 5th Floor, Harlequin House, 7 High Street, Teddington, Richmond Upon Thames,
TW11 8EE. Telephone: 0845-504 0452
