From health and safety hazards to petty crime, your business is at risk every day. To ensure a business’ premises and employees are safe, many turn to security guards to deter, detect and delay crime.
How much these measures will cost your business depends entirely on your unique needs and circumstances. It also depends on where you hire the security guards. We’re walking you through the costs you need to consider when hiring security guards.
- Location and wage market
- Experience and training
- Equipment and uniform requirements
- Time of day and type of service
- Insourcing vs outsourcing
- Why hire security personnel?
Location and wage market
Each location presents unique challenges. For example, how close a location is to the public or how secluded the area is will affect the type of guarding your property will need and the price. How many entry and exit points there are will also need to be considered and will influence how many security guards are required.
The more security guards that are needed to secure your property, the more you’ll need to spend. On top of this, security guards in one area in the country may be more expensive than another location.
Experience and training
A more experienced security guard, with years of training behind them, may result in higher costs.
The type of training a guard has may also affect the cost to hire them. Former military personnel are experts in identifying threats and de-escalating situations and will have specific combat training. Hiring security guards with this level of training and experience may be more expensive but potentially worth the investment.
One of the most important things to remember is to never settle for the first option you see. Although prices and rates can seem attractive, it’s important to do due diligence to ensure you're hiring security guards with experience and training who can protect your site.
When choosing to hire a security team yourself, you’ll also be responsible for providing additional training, such as First Aid, ACT, MAPA and safeguarding. However, by instructing an external company, such as Kingdom Security, to provide a team to guard your premises, we’ll take care of all this training for you, some of which are free of charge.
Equipment and uniform requirements
Another cost that needs to be considered before insourcing a security team is the equipment and uniform your team will need. A uniform identifies security guards as a team of experienced and trained professionals. This is especially important in deterring criminals, as people who approach your site need to know that it’s security guards manning the site, not unskilled individuals who work there.
Equipment such as metal detectors, torches and two-way radios are also expenses that need to be considered to ensure your security team can do their job effectively. More costly equipment such as liveried vehicles, proven to deter criminal activity, should also be considered.
Time of day and type of service
Although some security guard services charge more for hiring security guards overnight, at Kingdom Security, we charge the same for day and night services.
The type of service your business requires can also impact the cost. For example, a foot patrol service during the day can often be more expensive than a keyholder with overnight patrol service. Some services that can impact the cost include:
- Foot patrol
- Guarded security
- Door supervisors
- Mobile response
- Keyholding
- Alarm response
Insourcing vs outsourcing
If you choose to insource your security team, you’ll be responsible for hiring the talent for the role. On the one hand, this gives you the power to change your security requirements as your business needs change and grow. You also have the opportunity to train your team specifically in the skillset levels you need, offering you greater flexibility and control.
However, this process can be costly, time-consuming and a hassle to manage. If you don’t have the time or resources to commit to the recruitment and training process, it’s better to outsource your team.
By outsourcing this to reliable security experts, the supplying company will do all of the hard work for you. Your security team will have all of the necessary training and experience to keep your premises safe and will ultimately save your business time and money.
Why hire security personnel?
By hiring security guards, you’ll add a valuable deterrent to stop perpetrators from committing a crime at your business.
Security guards are the first line of defence in protecting your business and will react quickly should a breach occur. They will mitigate risks such as vandalism, thefts and assaults, as well as reduce the impact crime has on your business should an attack ever happen.
Not only that, security guards are often the first point of contact when visitors come to your premises, making them brand ambassadors. They play an important role in overall brand image and ensure your brand’s reputation remains intact.
However, hiring security guards shouldn't be a task you take lightly. For that extra peace of mind, you should turn to the experts that specialise in security and are committed to attention to detail.
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Is your site secure?
Without a reliable security system in place, your site is open to theft, burglary, vandalism and more. To minimise the risk of criminal activity, the best line of defence is implementing a risk analysis. In our guide, we show you how to conduct an assessment yourself and provide a comprehensive checklist so you won’t miss any important steps. To get started and protect your site, click the banner below.
