The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) has listed security consultancy and services group Lodge Service amongst the ‘1,000 Companies to Inspire Britain 2015’.
The list is described by the LSE as a celebration of some of the fastest-growing and most dynamic small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK.
Founded in 1919, Lodge Service has £22 million turnover and nearly 800 staff, with local offices or franchise operations in nine countries. It is now probably the largest of the few remaining family businesses in the sector, says managing director Simon Chapman, and the only one in the top five per cent of SIA-ACS, Security Industry Authority, Approved Contractor Scheme.
“The report recognises the role of Lodge Service and the security industry generally in helping to drive forward business and the UK economy. As a sector we are a major provider of skilled jobs and technology innovation and have strengthened our business case by focusing on the return on investment from security,” says Simon Chapman.
The LSEG report says: “The success of these 1,000 companies, various sources identify as ‘gazelles’, ‘the magic 6%’ or ‘scale-ups’, has a remarkably disproportionate effect on our national economic output. The ‘Scale-Up Report’, published last year by Sherry Coutu, found that boosting this ‘sector’ by just 1% would create as many as 230,000 new jobs and add £38bn to UK GDP”.