Venture Security is celebrating 15 years in business in Hampshire and central southern England. The company was founded in 2006 by Paul Howe and his wife Sara. Born and bred in Andover, where the ACS Pacesetters and Security Industry Authority (SIA) approved guarding firm is based, Paul was an event security manager. He felt there was an opportunity to “do things better”. From a team of three, Venture now employs around 100.
Despite the covid pandemic and the mass shift to home working, Venture reports sustained growth, working for businesses with empty premises to secure during lockdown and providing covid marshals.
Paul, pictured left with office staff, says: “When we founded Venture Security all those years ago, the UK security industry was a very different place. We’ve seen huge advances made in technology and also the transparency of security services, with customers able to see in real time what’s happening at their premises for the first time.
“It’s hard work operating a business that provides services 24-hours a day, 365 days a year but it’s also really rewarding and we’re proud to say some customers have now trusted us with their security for more than a decade.”
Venture has private and public sector customers, from small businesses to events and such household names as the lift company Stannah Group, the insurer Simplyhealth (who each have an office in Andover), the ancient monument on Salisbury Plain Stonehenge, Salisbury Racecourse and the London Marathon.
Venture’s officers can also be spotted in towns and city centres in the region where they support local councils and Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), to help tackle anti-social behaviour. The Winchester BID Rangers scheme, and similar on-street patrolling in Salisbury and Basingstoke were featured in the December 2019 and January 2020 print editions of Professional Security magazine. In 2019, two of Venture’s officers were given an ACS Pacesetters award for the role they played in detaining a man armed with a knife in Salisbury city centre.
Paul added: “I’m really proud of what we’ve achieved to date. We have a strong team and the systems and processes in place that we need to scale up even further.”
Visit www.venturesec.co.uk.
