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Demand for personal protection for executives is rising as companies are increasingly targeted by anti-Israel protests and climate activists, according to the head of one of the world’s biggest private security groups.
“The world doesn’t agree with everything certain companies do,” said Allied Universal chief executive Steve Jones. “There might be activists and protest groups who don’t like what they’re doing. So they can create challenges and issues for CEOs. It’s important that these executives are able to travel safely to and from work, to their homes, to their business meetings and in some cases different countries.”
He declined to name clients but identified businesses linked to Israel, and the defence and energy industries as among those particularly likely to seek additional security.
Protesters are increasingly targeting people and companies with perceived business links to injustices. Recent actions include the widespread disruption to European flights by climate activists, but also the vandalisation last month of Allianz’s offices in London by a pro-Palestinian group that claimed the German financial services group was offering insurance to an Israel defence company.
Jones added that increasing political instability globally was also driving business. “We’ve got wars going on in certain parts of the world, we have elections, we have protests, we have social challenges, we have immigration challenges that face different countries around the world. It all creates a need for additional security.”
In response to these challenges Allied Universal launched an “enhanced protection” service in July to meet demand for more advanced security, formed of employees specialising in intelligence, disaster and emergency response and nuclear and explosives screening, among others.
The service employs 17,000 staff from across the group’s different businesses, offering executives and their families protection when travelling, scoping out destinations and providing additional security in hotels. The unit employs several former police and military personnel, as well as serving law enforcement officers during their off hours, Jones said.
The unit also provides a service screening packages for explosives which is in demand among transportation groups, Jones said. Last month, it emerged that the UK’s counterterrorism police were investigating the origins of a package that caught fire at a DHL depot in Birmingham, following a similar incident in Germany and fears about links to Russian agents.
As a for-profit provider of security services, in corporate locations as well as state-funded prisons, Allied Universal itself has drawn criticism from campaigners.
The group in 2021 acquired UK-based G4S, which had itself been embroiled in controversy, including criticism of its handling of security in UK prisons. Despite pro-Palestinian protesters targeting G4S, Jones said the group also “continues to operate and make significant investments in Israel”.
Last year, Jones revealed that he had put a multibillion-dollar public listing on hold as the privately owned group tackled labour shortages and the “biggest challenge” he had faced recruiting in his 25-year career.
But the CEO said these labour challenges had been alleviated by the group’s improving its efficiency, such as investing in technology that automatically identifies and contacts guards who are qualified to handle a particular job.
The group now plans to list within the next two to three years he added, when it “will be able to demonstrate to different equity investors . . . how the company has literally transformed itself by using technology”.