BLUE SECURITY
Managing Director - Henk Van Bemmelen
BLUE SECURITY
Innovation Key to
Security Industry Leadership PRODUCTION: David Napier
Durban’s leading commercial and residential security organisation, Blue Security, leads the way in its sector that to an unrelenting focus on its core pillars: care, ownership, passion and service. Managing Director, Henk van Bemmelen tells Enterprise Africa more about how the business is gearing up for the future in a highly valuable but competitive industry.
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In November, a stark reminder of just how real the impact of crime in South Africa can be was dealt to Durban’s Blue Security when the company’s reaction officer, Phumzile Fitshane, was shot while responding to a panic alert south of the city. Armed robbers shot the officer in the chest and abdomen as he bravely answered the call. He later passed away in hospital as a result of his injuries leaving his family, the local community and the company devastated.
This is just one of the latest cases in an on-going wave of violent crime around the country. As criminals become more desperate and more brazen, the country’s enormous private security industry must stay one step ahead in order to protect their clients, and themselves. But how can the security industry and the SAPS make progress against ever-increasing levels of desperation, in an economy with 26%+ unemployment and increasingly
sophisticated crooks? Blue Security, formed almost 30 years ago to protect people and assets in Durban, is a company that believes in constant innovation and service excellence. Originating in armed response and protection, the company has seen its portfolio develop through acquisition, becoming an expert in electronic security solutions. In an industry where competition is rife and danger is high, building a brand that is trustworthy, responsible
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INDUSTRY FOCUS: SECURITY
and one that is recognised for delivering service excellence is vitally important. “Reputation is what separates us,” details Managing Director, Henk van Bemmelen. “We drive our brand, we deliver quality service, and we ensure we remain community focussed. We are here to fight crime and nothing else. Our values include care, ownership, passion and service and when you get those right, everything falls into place.” These values help to position Blue Security atop the industry – a sector that employs more than 490,000 people in SA, is worth approximately R40 billion, with more people than the SAPS and SANDF combined, and is the fourth largest private security industry (per capita) in the world. STRONG HISTORY In 1989, former SAPS officer Peter Anderson decided to start his own business, Enforce Security. The small
operation focussed on manned guarding of property and quickly built a reputation for delivering first-class service. “As the business grew through guarding, the need started coming for armed reaction to assist the guards; then clients started asking for alarm systems and that’s how the business evolved from 1989 through until 1992,” explains van Bemmelen. “Peter and his team started an electronics and detection division and complemented that with armed response and it continued to evolve over the years. In the 2006, they decided to split up Enforce Guarding and the electronics side because of the size of the two operations. The guarding operation was sold and Peter Anderson kept the electronics business and the name was changed to Blue Security and that is where the Blue brand started. From there, the snowball effect continued and the business grew dramatically, excelling in all aspects.”
Prior to the launch of Blue Security, while still known as Enforce, the company became the first security company in Africa to be awarded ISO 9002 accreditation for its electronic and guarding divisions. Today, the company offers a range of state-of-the-art security technologies, backed by a professional armed response and technical service team, has won a host of different industry awards, and has clients ranging from residential single house clients to large corporate businesses. “Initially, the business was more focussed on the commercial market but eventually, more and more residential customers began approaching,” says van Bemmelen. “We grew that side of the business and, today, the bigger percentage of our work is residential as residential properties far outweigh commercial properties by number, but we maintain a split between the two.” SECURELY INNOVATIVE Innovative in its nature, Blue Security has developed a number of solutions to meet the needs of clients. Smart systems to control your home remotely, technology to introduce habitation imitation, automated access systems, video and CCTV verification, alarm monitoring, outdoor beam detection systems, electric fencing, panic apps, fire detection and traditional manned guarding are just a few of the services on offer. But van Bemmelen is always looking for the next big advancement to ensure the company can always ensure client safety and look after their property. “Most of our clients are now saying ‘I want to see what is happening at my house, I don’t just want an alarm system’, and people want to view everything on their phones,” he says. “We are beyond the technology where you punch in
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BLUE SECURITY
// THE BIG DRIVE WILL ALWAYS BE INNOVATION AND THAT WILL BE THE KEY ASPECT OF THE ENTIRE INDUSTRY GOING FORWARD // a code to turn the alarm on or off – everything is now mobile. We are in a space where we need to adapt to stay in touch with that type of technology. Clients now require integration with other services in the home; they want the alarm system to talk to the lights or the air-con or the gates, and this is a big innovation for us. Building a security portfolio and protecting the client and their property allows us to introduce further innovation further down the line.
“If you look at where we are now with CCTV and the ability to turn on lights in the home, the next stage is looking at drones. Everybody is talking about drones doing deliveries of packages but we are looking at drones responding for us at client premises by taking pictures that can be assessed at the control room. It’s all to do with time, and it’s probably four times more accurate than what we’re doing now.” When it comes to response, there is only so much that tech can do and van Bemmelen says that armed reaction, and the speed of that reaction, will always be vital for the business in its fight against crime. But any improvement that can be offered by modern technology is something that the company will explore. “CCTV, video monitoring, video verification and picture verification are big things that are coming through the business.” Importantly, globalisation has
played a role in the advancement of technology in South Africa. Asked when the more sophisticated security technology began to hit the market in SA, van Bemmelen replies: “It started happening as the world changed and got smaller. “We started using new technologies from around the world that were evolving at a rapid pace. As a team, we had for the foresight to see what was coming and sit down with suppliers and carve out a niche in the market.” Ultimately, the combination of armed response with the efficiencies and speed of tech is what has helped to keep Blue Security in Durban’s number one spot for so many years. “The guys that deliver effort and fight crime are those that will survive and those that see it as a money-making scheme will not. This business is about being proactive; you must be innovative in the ways you try to stop crime.”
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INDUSTRY FOCUS: SECURITY
IS SECURITY IMPORTANT? In 2016/17, 19,016 people were murdered in SA; 18,205 attempted murders were reported to the police; 39,828 rapes were reported along with 156,450 common assaults; 53,418 common robberies and 140,956 robberies with aggravating circumstances. 22,343 incidents of house robbery were also recorded; 16,717 carjacking incidents (the highest number recorded in the past ten years), 246,654 house burglaries were recorded (the most feared crime in South Africa), and 53,307 cars or motorcycles were stolen.
ECONOMIC SECURITY With the economy in South Africa proving a volatile environment through the past few years, some companies (across various industries) have found the pursuit of growth a serious challenge. And security is no exception. “Unfortunately, when times are tough, the monthly security fee is one of the things that gets cut,” says van Bemmelen. “Towards the end of 2017, we could see that things were slowing down, and it’s even worse than it was when there was a dip in 2008. It absolutely has a massive effect on our subscribers. Security is not a nice product to sell – it’s something you must have but it’s something of a grudge purchase. This is not a cheap business to run; its driven by labour and because of that it’s an expensive thing for our clients. At national level, the whole industry is having a tough time because of economic and other factors.” Despite this, Blue Security has achieved much success through its history and is always looking at opportunities to grow. Whether it’s an expansion of its product and service portfolio, or a movement into new geographic markets, the company is exploring every option. “We always want to grow and we regularly sit around the boardroom table discussing the next steps. We talk about what we can do nationally,
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how we can get into Africa, and what acquisitions we can make but this comes with challenges. At this stage, we are wrapping up Durban and we have good growth so we are just waiting for the right opportunity to come along so that we can expand further,” details van Bemmelen. With Gauteng being home to more than 40% of the country’s security companies, and with reports suggesting that confidence in the police force around the country is dangerously low, there are clearly opportunities for expansion.
// AS A BUSINESS, OUR DRIVE IS TO FIGHT CRIME. WE FOCUS A LOT ON SERVICE AND WE WANT TO DELIVER SERVICE EXCELLENCE – THAT IS A PRIORITY // “We are a business that is very community driven and that is our speciality. We have a lot of differing projects underway right now. We are putting cameras on houses, we are blockading areas with beams, we are doing number plate recognition and we are embracing change. Crime - yes, it is high at a national level, and you
see a spike in difficult times, so we see opportunities for further innovation in the future.” Ensuring it is equipped to meet the needs of its customers in timely fashion – service being a key pillar of the company – the company will soon invest in its latest fleet expansion programme. “We measure response times daily and we measure visibility daily to ensure our service delivery. From here, we look at what is required with our fleet and we add between four and five vehicles every 10-12 months,” explains the Managing Director. SECURING THE COMMUNITY Blue Security is a born-and-bred Durban security company and its areas of operation for alarm monitoring and armed response are specifically the greater Durban Metropolitan area and surrounding suburbs. Staff, management, clients, suppliers and the majority of stakeholders are all from Durban and the company places a large emphasis on community development. One of the most important initiatives introduced by Blue Security in recent times is its Blue Angels charitable trust, non-profit organisation. Blue Angels identifies worthy organisations – including rape and trauma centres that assist crime victims as well as centres that work with previously disadvantaged women
BLUE SECURITY
and children – and then engages with the organisations to discover their needs and ways it can financially assist to keep their doors open long term. “About five years ago, we sat down and said, ‘what can we do as a community driven business?’ We have many victims of crime and that is a sad thing but there are many things we can do to help with that,” explains van Bemmelen. “We created Blue Angels and it grew so quickly that it is now way bigger than we ever expected. We have big contributions coming in and we are circling those funds back into the community to help those who have been victims of crime. Socially, through Blue Angels, we are also looking at where crime starts. We want to get to people who have a potential risk of becoming criminals and seeing if we can intervene and make a difference. Overall, Blue Angels
is community driven and will always help victims of crime.” This community focussed activity, that does not contribute to the company’s yearly revenue targets, is part of the reason why Blue Security has been presented with a Diamond Arrow PMR award as Durban’s best security company. “We recently won that award for the ninth consecutive year and you don’t get that easily. These awards speak for themselves – we do set the benchmark,” says van Bemmelen. This recognition has positioned the company perfectly for a sustained period of the growth through 2018 and beyond, and management is excited about what the future holds. “Times are exciting and we have some nice challenges so we are always looking forward. The big drive will always be innovation and that will be
the key aspect of the entire industry going forward.” But, as Blue Security is only too aware, the job of a security business is never done and the ongoing focus on innovation will hopefully help improve service delivery and protect people, both clients and employees, so that a situation like that of Mr Phumzile Fitshane (where thieves only escaped with an airgun, cell phone and modem) might be avoided. “There is absolutely always room to improve. As a business, our drive is to fight crime. We focus a lot on service and we want to deliver service excellence – that is a priority on our list,” van Bemmelen concludes.
WWW. BLUESECURITY.CO.ZA
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“When I left school and finished matric, I joined the army and completed my national service which was compulsory in South Africa at that stage. I left the army in 89/90 and joined a Johannesburgbased security firm – one of the first companies to start using armed reaction in the Johannesburg region. I joined on a temporary basis while studying but I developed such a passion for the industry that I stayed permanently - 28 years later and I’m still in the security industry and I’m now Managing Director of this business.”
M A N AG I N G D I R E C TO R
HENK VAN BEMMELEN www.enterprise-africa.net / 7
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