How to Hire Security Guards for Your Business in London
Hiring Security Guards the Right Way
A Practical, Step-by-Step Guide for London Businesses
Most businesses only hire security guards a handful of times, and often in a hurry: after a break-in, when a new site opens, when an insurer asks for it or when a landlord changes the rules. That pressure makes it easy to ask for "a guard", accept the first price and only discover later that the cover does not match the real risk.
Hiring well is not complicated, but it does follow an order. You need to understand what you are protecting and what you are protecting it from, work out how many officers and hours that takes, decide how day and night cover should differ, and make sure every officer holds the right SIA licence and training. Only then does it make sense to agree a contract and choose a provider.
This guide walks through each of those stages in turn. It is written by Prestige Secure Services Ltd, an SIA Approved Contractor providing security guard services in London and across the wider UK, and it reflects the questions our clients most often ask before their first officer starts on site.
The Hiring Process at a Glance
Each of these steps is covered in more detail further down the page. Working through them in order means every later decision, from officer numbers to contract terms, is based on evidence rather than guesswork.
- Define your security requirements. What you need to protect, when the site is most exposed and what the officers will actually do.
- Carry out a security risk assessment. Identify the threats, how likely they are and how serious the impact would be.
- Work out how many guards you need. Turn the risk assessment into security posts and hours, then into officer numbers.
- Decide on day and night cover. Set different duties for different hours, and consider whether a static night guard is the right tool.
- Confirm SIA licensing. Make sure every officer holds the correct licence for the work they will carry out.
- Specify qualifications and training. Decide which skills beyond the licence your site needs, such as first aid, fire marshal or counter-terrorism awareness.
- Agree the contract. Put the hours, duties, rates, service levels and liabilities in writing.
- Choose your security company. Shortlist compliant providers, compare like for like and verify before you sign.
Step 1: Assess Your Security Requirements
Before you speak to any security company, write down the answers to four simple questions. A one-page brief like this makes every quote you receive easier to compare.
What Are You Protecting?
List the people, property, stock, equipment, information and reputation at stake. A head office with 300 staff has different priorities from a warehouse full of high-value goods, a construction site with plant and materials, or a retail store dealing with shoplifting and abuse towards staff. Be specific about the areas that matter most, such as server rooms, cash offices, loading bays or executive floors.
When Is the Site Most Exposed?
Note your opening hours, delivery windows, shift changes, busiest trading periods and the hours the building is empty. Many incidents happen at predictable times: opening and closing, overnight, weekends and bank holidays. Knowing when risk peaks lets you put officers where they make a difference instead of paying for flat cover around the clock.
What Will the Guards Do?
Decide which duties you need: access control and visitor management, reception and front-of-house, internal and perimeter patrols, CCTV monitoring, lock and unlock, key and alarm management, deliveries and vehicle checks, fire safety duties or loss prevention. The duty list drives the type of licence, the training and the number of officers required.
What Else Shapes the Brief?
Record any incidents in the last 12 months, insurer or landlord requirements, existing security systems, budget, preferred start date and the notice period on any current contract. Note whether the site falls within scope of Martyn's Law (the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025), as that will affect the procedures your officers need to support.
Step 2: Carry Out a Security Risk Assessment
A security risk assessment turns your brief into evidence. It looks at the threats your business realistically faces, how likely each one is and how serious the consequences would be, then sets out which controls reduce that risk. Employers already have a legal duty to assess risks to staff under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, and security threats such as violence, aggression and lone working form part of that picture.
What a Good Assessment Covers
Expect a walk of the whole site, including perimeter, entrances and exits, lighting, CCTV coverage, alarm systems, key control, vulnerable areas and neighbouring premises. It should consider local crime patterns in your part of London, the incident history you have recorded and the times your site is busiest and emptiest.
What It Should Tell You
The output should be a ranked list of risks and a clear recommendation: which posts need a security officer, which risks are better handled by technology, patrols or procedures, and what each officer's duties should be. That recommendation then becomes the basis for your assignment instructions.
Who Should Carry It Out
A reputable security company will carry out a site survey and risk assessment free of charge before quoting. For larger estates, sites with complex risks or formal tenders, an independent security risk assessment from a consultant sets the specification before any provider prices it.
Step 3: Work Out How Many Security Guards You Need
The most common mistake when hiring security guards is confusing posts with people. A post is a position that must be staffed for a set number of hours, such as a reception desk from 07:00 to 19:00 or a gatehouse around the clock. Officers need rest days, holidays and sick leave, and under the Working Time Regulations 1998 their working week is limited to an average of 48 hours unless they choose to opt out. That means one 24-hour post always needs a team, not a single guard.
The table below shows typical team sizes for common cover patterns. The exact figure depends on shift length, holiday cover and how your provider rosters its officers, but it is a useful sense check on any quote you receive.
| Cover pattern | Hours per week | Typical team size |
|---|---|---|
| One post, weekdays 08:00 to 18:00 | 50 | 1 dedicated officer plus a trained relief |
| One post, weekdays 07:00 to 19:00 | 60 | 2 officers sharing the week |
| One post, nights only, 7 nights 19:00 to 07:00 | 84 | 2 officers plus a trained relief |
| One post, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week | 168 | 4 to 5 officers |
| Two posts, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week | 336 | 8 to 9 officers |
Factors That Increase the Number of Posts
- Several public or vehicle entrances that must be controlled at the same time.
- A large or spread-out site where patrols take an officer away from the main entrance for long periods.
- High footfall, busy delivery schedules or peak trading periods.
- A history of violence or aggression where a lone officer would be at risk.
- Duties that cannot be done at the same time, such as staffing reception while monitoring CCTV.
Equally, good CCTV, electronic access control and scheduled mobile patrols can sometimes reduce the number of static posts you need. A provider of static site security guarding should be able to explain exactly why it is recommending each post.
Step 4: Plan Day and Night Security Separately
The same building faces very different risks at 11am and 3am, so day and night cover should be planned as two separate jobs with their own duties, staffing and controls.
Daytime Security
During working hours the officer is usually the first person visitors meet. Day duties tend to focus on access control, signing in visitors and contractors, managing deliveries, customer service, monitoring CCTV and responding to incidents involving staff or the public. Communication skills, presentation and a calm approach to conflict matter as much as vigilance.
Night-Time Security
At night the priority shifts to deterring and detecting intrusion: regular recorded patrols, locking and checking doors and windows, monitoring alarms, fire safety checks and responding to activations. Night officers often work alone, so your provider must have a lone worker policy with regular welfare checks, a 24-hour control room or duty manager, and supervisors who visit unannounced. Night workers are also entitled to a free health assessment under the Working Time Regulations.
Is a Static Night Guard the Right Choice?
If your premises are empty overnight and the risk is moderate, a static guard is not always the best value. Mobile patrols, remote CCTV monitoring and keyholding and alarm response can be combined to protect a site at a lower cost, with a static officer reserved for higher-risk periods.
Step 5: Make Sure Every Guard Holds the Right SIA Licence
The Security Industry Authority (SIA) regulates the private security industry under the Private Security Industry Act 2001. Anyone carrying out licensable security work under contract must hold a valid SIA front-line licence for that activity, and it is a criminal offence both to work without one and to supply unlicensed officers. Licences are valid for three years, carry the holder's photograph and must be worn visibly on duty.
Just as important is checking that the licence matches the work. The main licence types a business is likely to need are:
| SIA licence | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Security Guarding | Guarding premises, property and people against unauthorised access, theft, damage or disorder. Covers most office, retail, construction, warehouse and residential guarding. |
| Door Supervision | Security at licensed premises such as bars, clubs and venues serving alcohol or providing late-night entertainment. A door supervisor licence also allows security guarding work, but not the other way round. See our door supervision page for more detail. |
| Public Space Surveillance (CCTV) | Monitoring CCTV to observe members of the public or identify individuals, for example in a control room. |
| Key Holding | Holding keys to premises and responding to alarm activations on behalf of a client. |
| Close Protection | Protecting one or more individuals from assault or injury. |
How to Check a Licence
Ask your provider for the name and 16-digit licence number of every officer proposed for your site, then search the SIA's free online register of licence holders. It shows the licence type, expiry date and whether the licence is active, suspended or revoked.
The Approved Contractor Scheme
Individual officers are licensed; companies can be approved. The SIA Approved Contractor Scheme (ACS) is a voluntary accreditation awarded only to security companies that pass an independent annual assessment of their vetting, training, management and service standards. Hiring through an ACS-approved company gives you independent evidence that the business behind the officers meets the industry benchmark.
Step 6: Specify the Qualifications and Training Your Site Needs
An SIA licence is the legal minimum. The officers who perform best are those whose training goes further and is matched to the site they are protecting.
Licence-Linked Training
To obtain a Security Guarding licence, officers must complete the Level 2 Award for Security Officers in the Private Security Industry, covering the law, patrolling, conflict management, emergency procedures and terrorism awareness, plus a recognised emergency first aid qualification. Officers renewing an older licence must also complete approved top-up training.
BS 7858 Screening
Every officer should be screened to BS 7858, the British Standard for vetting people working in security. It covers identity, right to work in the UK, a verified five-year employment and address history and a criminal record disclosure. Ask whether officers are ever deployed before screening is complete, and on what conditions.
Site-Specific Skills
Depending on the risk assessment, you may want officers with fire marshal training, ACT counter-terrorism awareness, advanced first aid or defibrillator training, physical intervention training, CCTV operation, or experience in your sector, such as construction site inductions or retail loss prevention. Specify these in your brief so every provider prices the same standard.
Personal Qualities
Qualifications do not show how someone handles an angry visitor or a quiet night shift. Look for good spoken and written English for clear incident reports, smart presentation, sound judgement and customer service skills. Ask to meet the lead officer before the contract starts, and make sure every officer receives a full site induction.
Step 7: Get the Contract Requirements Right
A clear contract protects both sides and gives you something to hold the provider to when standards slip. Whether you sign the provider's standard terms or use your own, make sure the following points are covered in writing.
| Contract area | What to agree |
|---|---|
| Scope and hours | Number of posts, officer numbers, shift times, minimum shift lengths and how extra hours are requested and approved. |
| Assignment instructions | Site-specific duties, patrol routes, access procedures, emergency contacts and escalation steps, agreed with you and reviewed whenever your operation changes. |
| Rates and charges | The hourly rate, bank holiday and short-notice rates, what is included (uniform, equipment, supervision, patrol system) and how annual wage increases will be passed on. |
| Service levels and KPIs | Measurable targets such as shifts covered on time, patrol checkpoints completed, report delivery and replacement times for absent officers. |
| Supervision and reporting | Frequency of supervisor visits, daily occurrence logs, incident reporting timescales and monthly or quarterly review meetings. |
| Licensing and vetting | A commitment that every officer is SIA licensed for the role and screened to BS 7858 before deployment, with licence details supplied in advance. |
| Insurance and liability | Employers' liability, public liability and professional indemnity cover, with limits that meet your lease or client requirements, and any liability caps clearly stated. |
| Subcontracting | No subcontracting of officers without your written consent, so you always know who is employing the people on your site. |
| Data protection | How visitor logs, CCTV footage and incident reports are handled, stored and shared in line with UK GDPR. |
| Term, notice and exit | Contract length, notice period, break clauses linked to performance, and how officers would transfer under TUPE if the contract later moves to another provider. |
Be wary of long minimum terms with no performance clauses, vague "all-inclusive" rates and contracts that say nothing about what happens when an officer does not turn up.
Step 8: Choose the Right Security Company
With your requirements, risk assessment, staffing plan and contract terms in hand, choosing a provider becomes a matter of comparing like with like. Send the same brief to three or four companies and judge them on more than the hourly rate.
- Approved on the SIA register of Approved Contractors for security guarding.
- Experience protecting sites like yours in London, with references you can call.
- A free site survey and risk assessment before any price is given.
- A 24-hour control room or duty manager and a clear plan for covering absences.
- Recorded supervision, patrol monitoring and regular reporting.
- A transparent, itemised quote showing what the rate covers.
- A healthy, up-to-date Companies House record.
For a full supplier scorecard, the ten questions to put to every bidder and the warning signs to watch for, read our companion guide on how to choose a manned guarding company in London.
Hiring Security Guards Through Prestige Secure Services
Prestige Secure Services Ltd is a London-based SIA Approved Contractor providing professional security guarding for offices, construction sites, retail premises, warehouses, residential developments and events across London, Essex, Kent and the wider UK. We follow the same process set out in this guide with every new client.
Survey and Risk Assessment First
We visit your site, assess the risks and recommend the number of posts, hours and duties you actually need, before we quote. If a patrol or CCTV solution would serve you better than a static guard, we will tell you.
Licensed, Vetted and Trained Officers
Every officer holds a valid SIA licence for their role and is screened to BS 7858 before deployment, with site-specific induction and additional training matched to your risk assessment.
24/7 Support and Clear Contracts
Our operations team provides round-the-clock management cover, with a dedicated account manager, transparent pricing and agreed service levels. Get in touch or call 0203 8840048 to book a free site survey.
