81% Micro
16% Small
2% Mid
1% Large
0% Mega
INSIGHTS - APRIL 2025
UK Security Activities Industry
UK Security Activities Industry Information
The security industry includes investigation and detective services, guard and patrol services, picking up and delivering money and other valuable items, operation of alarm systems and installation of safes.
Active Businesses
15,545
Annual Sales
£11bn +
Employees
189,387
Economic Contribution
£6bn
Tags
Location of Security Activities Companies
Security Activities Companies by Size
Security Activities Companies by Age
33% Young
30% Startup
25% Established
11% Mature
0% New
Oldest Security Activities Companies
Established
Fastest Growing Security Activities Companies
37% Declining
20% Healthy
20% Rapid
14% High
8% Low
Fastest Growing Security Activities Companies
3yr CAGR
Security Activities Industry Competitive Environment - New Entrants vs Leavers
Security Activities Industry Valuation
EBITDA Multiple
Security Activities Industry Valuation
Turnover Multiple
Security Activities Industry Valuation
Net Asset Multiple
Note - from March 2020 multiples are calculated monthly, prior to this they were calculated on an annual basis.
UK Security and investigation activities Industry Insights
There are 15,545 active Businesses in the UK with combined annual sales of £11 billion .
The Industry employs around 189,386 people and contributes £6 billion to the economy.
The most popular location for Security Activities companies is London with 4,663 and the fewest are located in Northern Ireland with 190.
The largest Security Activities company is Iss Facility Services Limited with a turnover of £693.6m. 81% of the industry is comprised of Micro companies with only 2% Mid companies.
11% of the Security Activities Industry is made up of 11% Mature but the majority are Young businesses (33%) the oldest company is Securitas Technology Limited founded in 1922.
Security Activities industry has a number of high growth companies (14%), the fastest growing company is First Advantage Europe Ltd with a 3 year growth rate of 94%. Other fast growing companies include Assa Abloy Global Solutions Uk Limited (80%), Bold Security Group (Uk) Ltd (71%) and Regency Security Services (Uk) Limited (60%).
The UK Security Activities Industry’s valuation has been improving over the past 3 years with a current EBITDA multiple of 8.90x, Turnover multiple of 1.34x and a Net Asset multiple of 2.30x.
