Security solutions services company Amberstone Security has released ambitious plans to become the UK’s largest privately owned security provider by 2025.
The business was born out of Cardinal Security, which fell into administration just two years after an MBO. Cardinal’s Founder, Jason Trigg, who had exited the business on completion of the MBO returned to save the remnants of Cardinal in 2018, ultimately creating the new company Amberstone Security.
Risk-based model for security and guarding solutions
Amberstone Security offered a new risk-based model for deploying security and guarding solutions, using proprietary AI based systems. The objective was to make sure the right people were in the right place at the right time and with the right equipment.
Amberstone’s risk-based model was a surprising development in the industry
This risk-based approach, using historical data as well as myriad of live data points, offered retailer customers numerous advantages. Not least among them was the opportunity to avoid wasting resources to reduce costs and eliminating inefficiencies. This has led to costs being driven down whilst standards were simultaneously driven up!
The guarding industry has often accused of being slow to adapt. So Amberstone’s risk-based model for deployment of personnel and resources was perhaps a surprising development in the industry. Unsurprisingly it proved a big hit with retailers, many of whom were being tasked to do more with less. As a result, Amberstone’s sales accelerated rapidly from £14M in 2019 to over £77M in 2021. The business is currently on track to exceed £100M per annum of profitable sales.
Profitable turnover & reorganisation
Now the company has set a goal to hit £300M of profitable turnover by 2025. To achieve this the business is reorganizing, to better focus on the needs of its individual customers.
The reorganisation sees Amberstone changing its operations for retail from just horizontal integration to vertical segmentation as well. Within retail, the vertical categories are Grocery, Non-grocery, Distribution & Manufacturing, Fashion and Hospitality.
Each vertical has its own senior director to whom the account lead reports. Each lead is a director or manager of the business. They are each supported by a team of colleagues.
Support Services Division
“We want to be respectful of the different facets of each client’s business and ensure that they see a greater level of service than they get now,” comments Dan Hardy, Managing Director of Amberstone.
Amberstone has created a new Support Services Division that will work across vertical business segments
In addition, Amberstone has created a new Support Services Division that will work across vertical business segments. This division offers tailored support in areas such as IT and HR that again respects the differences between, say, a distribution business and a non-grocery retail business.
As new business verticals are established and expanded, there will be ever greater scope for clients to flex up or down manpower requirements as part of a risk-based security model. The size of the business will then offer greater flexibility on even a geographic location. For example, keeping particular staff with local knowledge in their locale yields obvious operational benefits.
Strategy statement
The overall strategy of the new approach is summed up in the company’s strategy statement for 2022–2025, which is:
“To facilitate the right person, in the right place at the right time internally and externally, by using data to drive a risk-based approach to all business decisions and investments. Excellent customer service must be our number one priority, supporting client problem statements by taking a company values-based approach, every time.”
