Protection built around the company calendar, not the job title.
An executive’s exposure is rarely constant. It rises around a results announcement, a site closure, an AGM or a campaign aimed at the company, and falls away afterwards. Executive protection is close protection arranged around those dates: a driver for the predictable journeys, an officer for the public days, and an assessment before either.
Who it is for, and when
Chief executives, founders, board members and executives visiting the UK. For most of them, most weeks need nothing beyond sensible habits. The weeks that do are usually already in the diary:
- A results day or a major announcement, when the name is in the financial press
- A restructuring, redundancy programme or site closure
- An AGM or shareholder meeting — for a public company, within six months of the financial year end
- A protest or activist campaign aimed at the company
- A conference, launch or panel appearance
- A roadshow of London meetings, several addresses in a day
- A known individual making threats — a matter for the police first, with protection alongside
What it consists of
An assessment first. A risk and threat assessment of the dates, venues and routes, what the company has announced and anything already received. It sets the size of everything that follows.
A security driver for the predictable journeys. Home to office, office to venue, the airport and back — the movements anyone watching can learn. A security driver plans the route, the alternative and where the car waits.
A close protection officer for the public days. The AGM, the launch, the arrival at head office on the morning of an announcement. Officers hold a current SIA Close Protection licence and are vetted to BS 7858, and one usually works with the driver as a small detail. Any conditions on a protest outside the building are for the police to set; the officer’s part is the arrival — which entrance, at what time, and how long it takes to get inside.
Event security for the occasion itself. When the company hosts the AGM or the launch, event security covers venue liaison and access at the door, alongside the venue’s own staff.
A survey of the home. A restructuring can bring attention to the executive’s address as well as the office. A residential survey covers the approach, entry points, alarm configuration and what public records show. Keeping a home address private covers Companies House and the other public records.
Arrangements for executives flying in. For a roadshow or a board meeting in London, a visiting-the-UK detail covers arrival, drivers and officers, with one person accountable until departure. A protection team contracted abroad needs SIA licences to work here; qualifications gained overseas do not replace one.
Working with the company
Cover for an executive is usually arranged by someone else: the company secretary, HR, general counsel or the head of in-house security. The company secretary holds the AGM arrangements, HR holds the timing of a restructuring, legal handles anything that becomes a police or court matter, and in-house security keeps the building. One person on our side is accountable for the executive’s cover.
We sign your non-disclosure agreement as a matter of course. Where the threat arises wholly or mainly from the job, security the company provides can qualify for relief from the benefit-in-kind charge (ITEPA 2003, s.377) — a question for the company’s tax advisers.
Proportion, and what it costs
Most executives need a driver on specific days, not a permanent detail. A results day might mean a driver from the front door to the office and back, with an officer added only if the day includes a public appearance. A security driver’s full day typically runs £300–£600. A close protection officer costs £300–£1,000 a day, with most London assignments between £400 and £600, and a week of roadshow meetings with one officer sits inside the £2,000–£5,000 weekly band.
The cost guide sets out what moves those figures. If a change of routine is enough, the assessment will say so, and the self-assessment is a reasonable place to start before any call.
Common questions
How much notice is needed before an announcement?
Cover can start from 24 hours’ notice, and a senior reply comes within four working hours. A week or more lets the routes be driven and the venue walked before the day. Notice need not wait for the announcement itself: the details of an unannounced restructuring or results date can be shared in confidence from the first conversation, and we sign your non-disclosure agreement as a matter of course.
Do you protect executives travelling abroad?
No. Our work is in the UK, covered nationwide from a Lincolnshire base. Protection abroad is a separate discipline, best arranged with a specialist provider licensed where the travel takes place. The UK parts of a trip — the drive to the airport, the return, the meetings either side — can be covered in the ordinary way.
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