INSIGHTS - OCTOBER 2024

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

15,422

Annual Sales

£11bn +

Employees

186,942

Economic Contribution 

£6bn

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Location of Security Activities Companies

Security Activities Companies by Size

82% Micro

16% Small

2% Mid

1% Large

0% Mega

Security Activities Companies by Age

33% Startup

30% Young

24% Established

10% Mature

3% New

Fastest Growing Security Activities Companies

38% Declining

20% Healthy

20% Rapid

14% High

8% Low

Security Activities Industry Competitive Environment - New Entrants vs Leavers

Security Activities Industry Valuation

EBITDA Multiple

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Security Activities Industry Valuation

Turnover Multiple

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Security Activities Industry Valuation

Net Asset Multiple

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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 15,422 active Businesses in the UK with combined annual sales of £11 billion .

The Industry employs around 186,942 people and contributes £6 billion to the economy.

The most popular location for Security Activities companies is London with 4,567 and the fewest are located in Northern Ireland with 199.

The largest Security Activities company is Iss Facility Services Limited with a turnover of £693.6m. 82% of the industry is comprised of Micro companies with only 2% Mid companies.

10% of the Security Activities Industry is made up of 10% Mature but the majority are Startup 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 Bold Security Group (Uk) Ltd (71%), Assa Abloy Global Solutions Uk Limited (70%) and Verisure Services (Uk) Limited (42%).

The UK Security Activities Industry’s valuation has been improving over the past 3 years with a current EBITDA multiple of 9.19x, Turnover multiple of 1.25x and a Net Asset multiple of 2.70x.