KEEPING soldiers away from a
farmer's pheasants and providing
a system for a man with no
electricity are some of the unusual
problems faced by a family-
run burglar alarm company
celebrating its 25th anniversary.
Terry Petch set up Safeguard
Security Systems, in Stockton,
after being made redundant from
a steel fabrication firm, during
recession that hit the North-East
in the early Eighties.
Today, the company run by Mr
Petch, 58, his wife, Heather, 57,
and son, Andrew, 34, has more
than 5,000 customers.
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It is a major achievement for a
company that relies on word of
mouth recommendation, and
only advertises in the Yellow
Pages.
Major companies which have
used the company's services include
Nissan, for which Mr Petch
had to find a way to protect entire
compounds of new cars shipped
in to the North-East by the
Japanese manufacturer, before it
established manufacturing operations
in Washington, Wearside.
In the days before press-button
alarm fobs which would identify
individual cars, the keys had to
be left in the car with the doors
unlocked, which made them a
target for criminals.
The biggest undertaking the
company ever faced was installing alarms and CCTV in to
what was then the Enron power
station, at Seal Sands.
It was at a time when terrorism
was a growing threat and the authorities
were concerned the gaspowered
plant was a potential
target.
The firm, which tailors its services
to suit clients, has also carried
out some quirkier jobs.
Mr Petch said: "One customer
wanted to alarm a forest to stop
local soldiers, on manoeuvres,
who were sleeping rough, eating
his pheasants.
"We found a way to do it. In the
end, though, the customer decided
against alarming it."
Another potential customer
approached the company six
years ago to protect a compound
that did not have electricity.
Mr Petch said: "He had a generator,
but it was never switched
on. We managed to create a system
where a mobile phone could
trigger a generator which turned
on battery-powered, wireless sensors
to set off the alarm and alert
the guy. We can always find a solution."
Mr Petch believed he was able
to build up the company because
he had seen a gap in the market.
He said: "I thought there was a
niche. We were moving into an
age where video recorders were
coming in and people were getting
more than one TV, so there
were more things to steal. It was
lifting the burglary rate."
Mr Petch signed up for the then
Government's enterprise allowance
scheme, which paid
newly self-employed people a
base wage while they got their
businesses up and running.
The company began as a specialist
intruder alarm designer,
manufacturer, installer and
maintainer, at a time when such
deterrents were largely unheard
of in the average home.
The company started picking
up initial contracts through
friends and family, with Mr
Petch's desire to design systems
ensuring that the early versions
were Safeguard's own creations.
The intruder alarm market is
now saturated, although the
company still maintains and upgrades
systems for its 5,000 customers.
Safeguard is called upon
much more now to install access
control, CCTV and fire alarms.
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