Securitas AB Annual Report 2005

Report of the Board of Directors – Security Services Europe
New organization strengthens leadership
“ For Security Services Europe, 2005 was the fi rst full
year for our specialized and enhanced customer-oriented
organization. The process of reorganizing 86,000 people
from a geographical, country-oriented organization to
four vertical, specialized units – Permanent guarding
and Transport aviation security for large customers,
Mobile services and Alarm monitoring for small
customers – started in late 2004 and was fully implemented
in January 2005. The results have confi rmed
that we are on the right track.
New organization
Our new organization increases opportunities to transfer
knowledge and concepts within each individual customer
segment to gain better competence and customer focus.
This is particularly true for large customer operations.
We have already formed specialized units to address
customers in specifi c segments, such as Retail, Banks,
Energy Sector, Public Sector and Health Care in many
countries. In 2006, we expect this trend to become
stronger as we build cross-border networks to further
promote best practices.
In most countries, our unit for Mobile services
devoted a lot of effort in 2005 to IT development. We
imple mented integrated IT solutions, incorporating
GPS technology to track and monitor call-out cars and
transport vehicles, computerized report and feedback
systems, and online services for our customers. As for
our large customer operations, we benefi ted from being
able to exchange experience between countries.
With our new focus and specialization in high-risk
areas such as airports and seaports, it has been important
to improve insurance coverage to limit our liability
exposure. This led to the loss of some airport contracts
The development of mobile services for small
customers will be an important driver for our
continued growth and improved margins.
Tore K. Nilsen
Divisional President Security Services Europe
where we were not able to agree on new terms. Meanwhile,
we see defi nite signs of recovery as the market
are responding positively to our specialized approach
and new contracts are expected to improve our results
in 2006.
Transfer of knowledge
The security industry in Europe as a whole grew by
3–4 percent in 2005, despite large differences between
the countries in terms of market maturity. We also see
new business opportunities arising as the market expands
and new countries apply for EU membership. We
expect to be able to expand and render the exchange of
knowledge and best practices more effectively across
borders within our division. We also see opportunities
for mutual exchange with our colleagues in the USA.
Even though our markets may at fi rst seem different
– for example, in Europe 75 percent of the security
market is outsourced, compared to only 50 percent in
the USA – the need for skilled and trained security
professionals is fairly similar. We are confi dent that
an increased exchange of business concepts and knowledge
will benefi t both markets.
In order to enhance and encourage best practices
across borders, we expanded and refi ned our
manage ment training program. In 2005 the number of
participants increased by more than 30 percent. The
training is increasingly focusing on specialization and
refi nement of our services. With the new organization,
Securitas has strengthened its market leadership in
Europe. Through close cooperation with our customers,
we are in a strong position to continue to develop
our services for profi table growth. ”
48 SECURITAS 2005