Noonan Services buys security firm to London’s Shard

Noonan Services, the Dublin-based facilities management, security and contract cleaning firm, has bought one of London's leading securities firms, Ultimate Security Services, for an undisclosed sum.

The deal comes less than three months after Noonan was acquired by publicly-quoted South African services, trading and distribution group BidVest in a €175 million deal.

Founded in 1999, Ultimate Security employs more than 2,100 security officers across 240 locations, including The Shard in London, a 95-storey skyscraper and Europe’s tallest tower.

“We are delighted to have completed this acquisition, which significantly grows Noonan’s footprint as a leading provider of security services in the United Kingdom, provides us with unique expertise in servicing prestigious, high-end corporate offices in London and a robust platform to accelerate our growth plans in London and across the UK,” said John O’Donoghue, chief executive of Noonan.

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The purchase is Noonan's most significant since it almost doubled in since in 2014 through the purchase of Resource Group, a Northern Ireland outsourcing company employing more than 6,000 people across the UK that was in administration at the time. The latest transaction increases its workforce to about 15,000.

Key services

Ultimate Security’s key services include high-end security, front of house and reception services as well as mail room services in and around the City of London.

Key members of the Ultimate Security's management team will remain with the business, with director Paul Harvey set to take over as managing director of the Noonan's Great Britain Property Services unit and the UK company's chief executive, Steve Hall, will be retained as a strategic adviser.

The latest set of annual accounts for Ultimate Security show that it reported a gross profit of £6.18 million (€6.93 million) on £71.5 million of revenues.

Noonan's revenue has more than trebled since it was acquired by US private equity firm Alchemy in 2008, as it expanded in Ireland and the UK. The company, set up in 1997 by Limerick man Noel Noonan, is also involved in technical and environmental services. It had a turnover of €328 million last year.

BidVest signalled in September, after it closed the Noonan acquisition, that it planned to continue the Irish company's acquisition drive, including into continental Europe. Noonan's clients range from AIB to hospitals and sports stadiums.