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Certis buys Aussie security company, plans to expand Down Under

This article is more than 12 months old

Private guards from Singapore and Australia could soon swop more technology, soft skills and best practices as the Temasek-owned Certis group grows its business Down Under.

Certis, which also runs the Certis Cisco auxiliary police force, bought SNP Security for an undisclosed sum earlier this year. It is now merging the SNP business with security firm Business Risks International Group Holdings (BRI), which it acquired two years before.

Business development and operations technology director Lee Ying Loong, who went to Australia in 2016 to bring BRI into the fold, said "a lot of intellectual property and thinking" there has come from Certis, such as the development of a mobile app for on-duty guards, which impressed client Sydney Trains.

At the same time, he praised the Australian counterparts' "service DNA" as " strong".

Mr Lee said the level of risk management differs between here and Australia as a single threat in densely populated Singapore "could end with grave consequences".

Another difference is the use of canine units in Australia, which Mr Lee said has helped BRI to catch graffiti artists.

The expense of setting up such a unit in Singapore "is quite huge", he said, citing the lower cost of hiring a Singaporean guard.

There are lessons to be learnt on the talent front too.

Mr Lee said the Australian emphasis on skills is "a good learning model for us" and a complement to the progressive-wage model that kicked in for Singapore security officers in 2016. SNP staff at Sydney Airport, for example, attend biennial refresher courses on dangerous items in luggage.

Australian unions are also more vocal, added Mr Lee, who has learnt to engage with labour stakeholders when rolling out changes in the workplace.

"We need to show all those sensitivities, including cultural sensitivities, before we introduce anything," he said.

SNP and BRI, which Certis plans to streamline under a single brand, had a combined turnover of A$350 million (S$346 million) last year.

- THE STRAITS TIMES

BUSINESS & FINANCE