PSI MAGAZINE COLUMN: OCTOBER 2015

This month Simon Banks talks to Georgia Riley, New Business Manager of Ambush Security Systems Ltd one of the leading providers of security solutions in Greater London, serving commercial and domestic customers throughout the wider London area.

Ambush Security Systems has flourished as a result of acquisitions. What’s the strategy behind this?

It all began with the purchase of Jaguar Alarm Company which immediately tripled our contracts. Growing by acquisition is a quick way to take a business to the next level. In order to have success, the transition must remain seamless for the end-user. It’s also worth noting that you inherit everything from the business you acquire, good and bad! Often the lucrative contracts go hand-in-hand with outdated equipment so it’s important to have an upgrade plan. Our latest acquisition increased our reach in Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire in addition to adding to the base.

Does the majority of your business come from the Domestic or Commercial market?

We offer installations of all sizes, from small domestic wireless systems to large, complex commercial systems. We have some very high profile customers including a well known football club, and companies with high security needs who require protection for high cash value sites. These commercial clients have smart water and smoke cloak systems connected to their monitored alarm and a complex biometrics package together with airlock vaults and monitored CCTV to name but a few. We also have a number of customers with systems installed in both their London and country homes by us.

Have you noticed significant growth in any particular area recently?

We have seen a definite increase in the number of domestic properties requesting CCTV installations in both London and the Home Counties. 95% of the jobs we have completed recently have opted for a connection for remote viewing via an App. End-users are less daunted by technology now and it’s much more cost effective than it once was. Interestingly all of our CCTV installations are wired as our engineers find the wireless options unreliable. We’ve also found that once a system goes in on a street, it triggers lots of copycat purchases from neighbours who want their properties equally protected.

What have you found to be the most effective way of getting new business?

The key to our business is our staff and standards. We are extremely fortunate to have such an excellent team. Our customers recognise this and spread the word. Our engineers have a great work ethic and in the last 14 months alone they’ve completed a signalling swap out of over 300 signalling systems to DualCom. A large commercial client was recently so impressed with one of our engineers that he was mentioned in an internal presentation about the success of the project. We favour the Apprenticeship route at Ambush and believe it’s the main reason we have such high calibre engineers. Every Apprentice we have trained has stayed with the company and progressed through the ranks.

You Said It!

"First @CSLDualCom installation today, great product, great service."

Tweeted by @RangerSecurity - June 22