INSIGHTS - MAY 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

15,066

Annual Sales

£11bn +

Employees

183,989

Economic Contribution 

£6bn

Tags

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

32% Startup

32% Young

26% Established

10% Mature

1% New

Fastest Growing Security Activities Companies

38% Declining

21% Rapid

18% Healthy

14% High

9% Low

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 15,066 active Businesses in the UK with combined annual sales of £11 billion .

The Industry employs around 183,989 people and contributes £6 billion to the economy.

The most popular location for Security Activities companies is London with 4,465 and the fewest are located in Northern Ireland with 194.

The largest Security Activities company is Iss Facility Services Limited with a turnover of £657.5m. 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 (32%) 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 Bold Security Group (Uk) Ltd with a 3 year growth rate of 163%. Other fast growing companies include Dahua Technology Uk Limited (108%), First Advantage Europe Ltd (93%) and First Response Group Ltd (41%).

The UK Security Activities Industry’s valuation has been improving over the past 3 years with a current EBITDA multiple of 8.43x, Turnover multiple of 1.15x and a Net Asset multiple of 2.26x.