Securicor plc was one of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

's largest security businesses. It was once a constituent of the

FTSE 100 Index The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is a share index of the 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange with (in principle) the highest marke ...

but merged with Group 4 Falck in 2004.

History

The Company was founded by

Edward Shortt Edward Shortt, KC (10 March 1862 – 10 November 1935) was a British lawyer and Liberal Party politician. He served as a member of David Lloyd George's cabinet, most significantly as Home Secretary from 1919 to 1922. Background and educatio ...

, a former Liberal Cabinet Minister, in 1935 as ''Nightwatch Services'':Group 4's Danes to swoop on Securicor
The Times, 1 February 2004 its guards rode bicycles and wore old police uniforms. However, in 1939 it was taken over by

Lord Willingdon Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon (12 September 1866 – 12 August 1941), was a British Liberal politician and administrator who served as Governor General of Canada, the 13th since Canadian Confederation, and as Viceroy and ...

and Henry Tiarks who developed it into a leading security business. It changed its name to ''Security Corps'' in 1951 and shortened it to ''Securicor'' in 1953. In 1960 it was acquired by ''Associated Hotels'' which itself dated back to 1923. In 1984 one of its security guards, John James McWilliams, was murdered while working in London. Securicor, along with co-founder

British Telecom BT Group plc (trading as BT and formerly British Telecom) is a British multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is the largest provider of fixed-line, b ...

, was involved with the creation of mobile phone operator

Cellnet O₂ UK (legally incorporated as Telefonica UK Limited, stylized as O₂) is a British telecommunications services provider, headquartered in Slough, England. It operates under the O2 brand. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 joint ventu ...

in 1985. Securicor sold its share in the company to

in 1999, resulting in the formation of BT Cellnet, which was later spun off as O2. In 2004 Securicor merged with Group 4 Falck to become

Group 4 Securicor G4S is a British multinational private security company headquartered in London, England. The company was set up in 2004 when London-based Securicor amalgamated with Danish firm Group 4 Falck. The company offers a range of services, includin ...

.Group 4 Falck and Securicor plc announce terms of merger
Nordic Business Report, 24 February 2004

References

Security companies of the United Kingdom Defunct companies based in London Companies established in 1935 Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange 1935 establishments in England Companies disestablished in 2004 2004 disestablishments in England {{England-company-stub