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Tech Vs Guarding – The Costs Explained

According to recent government information, from the 1st April 2024, the National Living Wage age threshold will be lowered to 21 (previously this applied to all workers aged 23 and over) and will rise from £10.42 to £11.44 per hour.

The cost of a security guard is already expensive, ranging anywhere from £20 – £40 per hour depending on experience and location. This latest increase further impacts the cost of security guarding on sites, making this type of service unaffordable for many property managers, particularly those with lower security budgets.

What are the alternatives?

As a leading supplier of advanced security technology and guarding services for over 40 years, we can provide a non-biased view of the different options available and what that means in terms of cost to site owners. When discussing security options with our customers, we offer a free site assessment to provide a variety of solutions that meet the specific needs of their site. These could include –

  • Security guarding
  • Mixture of security guarding and technology
  • Technology only

In this blog, we look at three example sites to give an overview of options and costs within each scenario.

Site One – Large vacant office and logistics units

With five individual units ranging from 101,837 to 146,321 sqft, this type of site requires a robust security solution due to the value, size and scope of the property. We looked at three security scenarios to protect this site –

Option One 2 x dog handlers to patrol the entirety of the site 24/7 Approximately £30K per month.
Option Two Using alarms, CCTV technology, entrance barriers and security in residence guarding Saving approximately 16% against Option One.
Option Three CCTV technology and entrance barriers only Saving approximately 40% against Option One.

Site Two – Warehousing units with office space

Comprising of two available units ranging from 110,000 to 344,000 sqft, this type of site requires a lesser degree of security due to other occupied properties on the estate and a smaller footprint. We looked at two security scenarios to protect this site –

Option One 1 x dog handlers to patrol the entirety of the site 24/7 Approximately £16K per month.
Option Two Using alarms, CCTV technology and entrance barriers Saving approximately 53% against Option One.

Site Three – Power storage facility

This site covers approximately 5,000 sqft and is pre-equipped with gated perimeter and entrance security. We looked at two security scenarios to protect this site against intruders –

Option One 1 x SIA Guard 24/7 Approximately £14K per month.
Option Two 1 x CCTV tower Saving approximately 90% against Option One.

Meeting budgets without compromise

As the scenarios suggest, customers can save substantially by moving from security guarding to technological solutions, without compromising on their security requirements. With the wage rise coming into effect in April, options involving security guards will further increase by a minimum of 10% throughout the UK, regardless of supplier. For this reason, we recommend that any requests for security guarding is sourced before this deadline to minimise the impact on cost.

We hope that this article has been informative and opened the door to the range of possibilities that are now available for site owners to meet both their security and cost requirements.

We’re here to help

In our experience, no two sites are the same. Our team of security advisors offer a free, no-obligation site assessment to determine the best possible options for your individual site, from both a security and cost perspective. If you’d like to speak to our team, or require more information, then please get in touch and we’ll be happy to help.

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