By Al Edwards, Business Co-ordinatorLOCAL security firm, Guardsman, headed by Kenny Benjamin has established operations in St. Vincent and the Grenadines with an initial investment of EC$1 million and has plans to expand into the Eastern Caribbean in the new year, first going Barbados and then St. Lucia.
Guardsman is the first locally owned security company to venture into the Caribbean.
Speaking with The Financial Gleaner earlier this week, Guardsman's chairman Kenneth Benjamin said: "The growing importance of both the CSME and CARICOM means that businesses will have to look to the region as a viable market and this is precisely what we have done. We had our official opening in St. Vincent about a month ago and they have made us feel very welcome. We are looking forward to conducting business there. In January 2004, we hope to open up offices in Barbados and then St. Lucia."
DISTINCT SERVICES
Guardsman will offer two distinct services in St. Vincent, namely static guarding and armoured truck services. This will be done from one company called Guardsman (St. Vincent) headed by Mrs. Marcella Dunbar who has been appointed as the new general manager.
Before joining Guardsman she was with an American Internet offshore American company called Net Data Services. "Security companies in St. VinCent generally do not professionally train its staff so with the coming of Guardsman the standard of security in the country will improve and businesses can expect a higher level of service. With Guardsman training is mandatory and it conducts background checks. The Government of St. Vincent is totally behind Guardsman and we intend to go into the government contractual part of guarding and the Ministry of Health have made some promising overtures. Right now we are getting more request for static guarding.
Mr. Benjamin noted that the crime rate is relatively low in St. Vincent though it has the unenviable record of being the second largest exporter of ganja to the United States, Jamaica being number one.
HISTORIC
"It was historic for us to get firearm licences in St. Vincent. As the economy grows, crime follows and so it was very timely for us to launch Guardsman in St. Vincent because we can see prosperity coming there," said Mr. Benjamin.
The company is composed of both an operational and administrative wing. It has two armoured trucks running on a daily basis with 23 guards after two months in business. The company employs 40 performance, with Daniel Cummings, a well respected member of the St. Vincent business community serving as chairman of Guardsman (SVG).The board comprises of 5 members from St. Vincent and 4 members from Jamaica. Guardsman is letting it be known to all businesses that all money transported by the company is insured by Lloyds of London. Guardsman biggest rival in St. VincEnt is Allied Security.
Some of the major banks have signed contracts to begin service from January of next year. The contracts run for one year and Guardsman is offering a period whereby companies can use the service gratis for a limited period to determine whether they will use Guardsman's expertise. Guardsman is confident that by December it will have all the financial institutions on board. Already it has cornered the major players in the industrial sector and is now seeking the commercial and business sector.
Guardsman will be looking to provide value added services such as ATM servicing an and cash processing. St Vincent presently has about 450 security guards and Guardsman is of the opinion that it can take it up to the 700 mark which would be twice the number of the police force in St. Vincent.
The security industry in Jamaica has 15,000 security guards with Guardsman having 3,600 of those. With 4,000 police and an army of 3,000 the security industry has the greater personnel number.
