So let us say, just for arguments sake, you are a demented control freak with a gang of others like yourself, you are born into families who through the generations have also believed in the same control mechanic of get rich at any expense kind of thing. Over some possible 7000 years, this group of families has infiltrated nations and used them to attack other nations, selling all sides the weaponry and supplying the mercenary forces gathered in the many campaigns into foreign lands. In using war as a means to create a threat and saviour mentality, this group of families has ensured they control the means of production of all needs of all nations they have secured their secret dictatorships in order they can hide behind emperors, monarchs, and in the later centuries, incorporated governments and military regimes.

As nations fell before them, they would set up systems interdependent upon the resources they control, they flood the populations with addictive substances, opium, tea, coffee, alcohol, tobacco, sugar, etc and today technology and fashion, to ensure a constant supply of exchange going their way and to fund there’re ever expanding empire, to further entrap man into purchasing their goods and services. The final act in shifting the trade rules of Admiralty commerce onto the lands required the rules of the naval empire to carry over man, for this they required River Banks to place all the loot of the people within, what the people of their day failed to understand, was the fact the loot of which they spoke would be paper, an I owe You, pushing trade away from of goods for goods to the acceptance of paper notes and contracts which required a referee, a judge to arbitrate dispute.

The laws of the land gave the people the rights against claims by the wealthy, the crown and the state, they saw people as the nation and so the Jury was the judge. Pushing statutes against the people would be overruled by the rights of the common law, the rules the people had consented to be governed by, setting authorities in place under oath to enforce those rules according to law. The rules of commerce are not law, in order for statute rules to take the force of law, a contract would have to be achieved with those you wish to be governed by the statutes, and given the offices enforcing law on the land are bound by their oath only to the enforcement of common law, the statute legislation would require its own private court system with its own private security. Welcome to G4s a domestic division of the private army of a fraudulent monarch, Blair Atholl. 

G4S are today operating the domestic meter reading service which places corporate intelligence directly into your homes, that is if you let them in. Take your own meter readings and scupper yet another method by which the intelligence brigade can gain access into your world.

G4S is one of the world’s biggest security companies, active in over 90 countries. And it’s one of the world’s biggest employers of any kind, with around 570,000 staff. Most of its business is in providing guards and security tech to business clients, as well as cash transport.

Security is a global boom industry, and unlike other outsourcing giants G4S remains profitable and growing.

G4S also runs prisons and immigration detention centres in the UK, Australia and South Africa under its “G4S Care and Justice” subsidiary. These are amongst its most profitable contracts.

Although it recently sold most of its controversial Israeli business, G4S works with Afghan warlords and in regimes like Syria or Sudan. It has a long record of scandals, failures and controversies – but keeps on winning new contracts.

The business has three main parts :

“Secure Solutions”: human security guards, security technology, warzone mercenaries, and “facilities management” which integrates security with other management and maintenance contracting. It is active in 82 countries, and works with a range of corporate, public sector, and private clients.

“Cash Solutions”: cash transport vans and related technology. It is active in 42 countries and makes up 14% of the company’s core revenue.

“Care and Justice”: a sub-division of Secure Solutions operating in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. It runs prisons, immigration detention centres, police stations, and some other government services such as asylum housing. It only makes up 7% of G4S’ total business. But profit rates are typically much higher than for “mundane guarding” work.

G4S operates through around 600 local subsidiaries. They typically – though not always – use the G4S branding. Its head office is in Crawley, not far from Gatwick Airport.

Total revenue in 2017 was £7.4 billion. Profit after tax was a reasonable £236 million. G4S paid out £290m to its shareholders in dividends in the last two years.

The bulk – 80% – of G4S’ contracts are with the private sector. Globally, the company has 150,000 customers and 55,000 suppliers. 34% of Secure Solutions business comes from major corporations and industrials; 18% financial institutions; 10% from the retail sector; with other business in energy, transport, and leisure sectors. The largest individual customer is Bank of America.

Only around 5% of G4S’ business now comes from the UK government, down significantly from a few years ago. It continues to lose money on some existing UK state contracts, notably the COMPASS asylum housing deal – but all of these “onerous contracts” date to before 2013. Its prison and detention contracts, on the other hand, are highly profitable. According to the Financial Times, these “contracts earn margins of more than 15 per cent, higher than for more mundane guarding.”

Most of its revenue (£4.61 billion) came from the “developed markets” of the US and Europe. “Emerging markets” revenues were £2.8 billion, with the main regions in order of size being: Middle East and India (£845m), Asia Pacific (£736m), Latin America (£700m) and Africa (£457m).

G4S is a public limited company, listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), and also on the NASDAQ OMX exchange in Copenhagen. In recent years it has been popping in and out of the FSE100 index, which lists the 100 biggest LSE traded companies.

Like many big PLCs, most of its shares are owned by major global fund managers. At the end of 2017 its biggest shareholders were: Invesco (13.05%), BlackRock (6.02%), Harris Associates (5.11%), and Mondrian Investment Partners (5.07%).

G4S Government Contract Renewed For Immigrant Detention

History [1]
Group 4 Falck is better known in the UK as G4S, a name which has come to be associated with incompetence and failure. Group 4 Falck was created in 2000 by the merger of Group 4 Securitas (International) BV and Falck A/S. The companies were both formed in the beginning of last century in Denmark, when Philip S¸rensen and Marius Hogrefe founded the guarding company K¸benhavn Fredriksberg Nattevagt (1901), and Sophus Falck established Redningskorpet for K¸benhavn go Fredriksberg A/S (1906).

Redningskorpet for K¸ benhavn go Fredriksberg A/S, which later changed its name to Falck, started off providing guarding, ambulance and fire engine services. In 1988 the Falck family sold the company to Baltica, a Danish insurance company, that went on to sell off 55% of Falck to a number of other major insurance companies. During the 90s Falck expanded in Europe by acquiring several companies (Patena Security in Sweden, Falken in Norway, SIMIS in Germany, Sezam Sp. z o.o. of Poland, AS ESS, a security operator with companies in all Baltic states, and Nederlandse Veiligheidsdienst [NVD), the largest security operator in the Netherlands).

In 1950 the S¸rensen family established itself in the UK. At this time, all its companies were managed under the name Securitas International. In 1963, Store Detectives Ltd and Securitas Alarms Ltd, were set up by the family in the UK. J¸rgen Philip S¸Rensen was appointed managing director of the UK part of the group in 1965. The UK part of the business was organised under the name Group 4 from 1968 onwards.

In 1981 the activities of the S¸rensen family were split up into Securitas AB (the Swedish activities) and the Group 4 group (the rest of the European activities). Group 4 moved on to expand to several countries all over the world (India, United Arab Emirates, Ukraine, Turkey, etc). In 1990 the group acquired American Magnetics Corporation which specialises in access control systems. This helped Group 4 Falck to win the highly prestigious contract to handle security at the Pentagon.
Group 4 has been one of the benefactors of the UK privatisation policy during the 90s. In 1991, it got the first contract to manage the UK’s first privatised prison, Wolds in Humberside. British Gas also started a joint venture with Group 4 to provide meter reading to more than 19 million customers (they work together under the name Accuread).

After the merger of Group 4 and Falck in 2000, the expansion continued with several acquisitions (ADS [Germany), SOS (Austria), SPAC (Finland), BOS (Czech Republic), Unikey (Norway) and Banktech (Hungary)). The year 2001 was a good one for Group 4 Falck with an increased turnover and a 20% increase in profits. This was thanks to the growth in the markets in Indonesia, Kazakhstan and the republics in Central Asia (especially in the oil and gas sector)[2]. It also acquired the security company Euroguard (France). In 2002 Group 4 acquired the Wackenhut Corporation (US) and increased its profits further still.

Its acquisition of the Wackenhut Corporation adds a new and disturbing section to Group4 Falck’s corporate history. Formed in 1954 by former FBI agent George Wackenhut, its first major coup was the collection of two million files of US citizens implicated in the McCarthyite witch hunts of the 1950s[3]. In the 1970s the company was implicated in supplying chemicals for weapons to Iraq[4] Since then it has diversified into incarceration and other areas of security. The resale of part of the Wackenhut Corp.  Wackenhut Corrections appears to signal a move out of incarceration and back to the company’s core security and safety business.[5] Given the company’s record in private prisons, campaigners will certainly hope this is part of a wider trend.

G4S plc (formerly Group 4 Securicor) (LSE: GFS, OMX: G4S) is a global security services company headquartered in Crawley, United Kingdom. It is the world’s largest security company measured by revenues and has operations in more than 125 countries.[6][7] With over 630,000 employees, it is the world’s second-largest private sector employer (after Wal-Mart Stores).[6][8]
G4S has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and it is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It has a secondary listing on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange.
Source

2004-2010
In 2005 and 2006 G4S was the subject of a global campaign by union workers alleging that subsidiaries undermine labour and human rights standards. Some of these groups were organised under the banner of the SEIU funded Focus on Group 4 Securicor.[9] This group backed protests at Group 4 Securicor’s annual general meeting in London in 2005[10] and 2006. The 2006 US State Department Report on Human Rights in Indonesia released in March 2006 featured the on-going dispute in Jakarta with Group4/Securicor.[11] In July 2006 the Indonesian Securicor workers had a substantial win but the campaigners continue to support other Group 4 Securicor workers.[12] The company disputed these claims and pointed to its strong relationships with unions around the world, including the GMB in Britain.[13] In 2007, G4S announced a sporting initiative that supports 14 aspiring young athletes from developing countries. Called the G4S 4teen, the programme has the support of running legend Haile Gebrselassie.[14] In March 2008, it was announced that G4S were taking over Scottish Rock Steady Group who carry out stewarding at major sporting and music events mostly in the UK. Rock Steady events have included Live8 concerts in London, Scottish FA Cup Final & the Download Festival.[15] In April 2008, G4S acquired RONCO Consulting Corporation, one of the world’s premier humanitarian and commercial mine action, ordnance disposal and security companies.[16]

In May 2008, the Company acquired ArmorGroup International.[17] Also in May 2008 G4S plc completed its £355 million acquisition of Global Solutions Limited.[18] In December 2008 G4S and UNI, the global union, announced the launch of an Ethical Employment Partnership, which will drive improvements in standards across the global security industry.[19] Also in December 2008, G4S and the SEIU reached an agreement to end their long dispute and establish a framework to work together in the interest of employees.[20] In 2009, G4S continued to acquire companies: Secura Monde International Limited and Shiremoor International Engineering Limited, together, the UK’s leading specialist banknote and high security technical and commercial advisory companies; All Star International, one of the premier facilities management and base operations support companies providing services to the US Government; Adesta, US-based provider of integrated security systems and communication systems; and Hill & Associates Consultants Limited, Asia’s leading provider of specialist risk mitigation consulting services.

In 2008, G4S also acquired Touchcom, Inc. for £14.93 million . Touchcom, Inc. is located in the Burlington/Bedford, Massachusetts area. The rebranding of Touchcom, Inc. to G4S is scheduled to be completed by 1 January 2012.

In 2009, an Aboriginal man from Western Australia died of heat stroke after being transported in a G4S (then GSL) van without air conditioning or water.[21] Criminal charges were never laid despite a GSL company spokesperson admitting there were grounds for concern. This came after GSL had already been criticised in 2005 for they’re handling of Australia’s detained immigrants in a report undertaken by former Head of Queensland’s Corrective Services Keith Hamburger.[22] The G4S helicopter robbery occurred on 23 September 2009 in Sweden. Both G4S own security and the police work were criticised.[23]

2010 to present In October 2010, three G4S-guards heavily restrained and held down 46-year old Angolan deportee Jimmy Mubenga on departing British Airways flight 77, at Heathrow Airport. Security guards kept him restrained in his seat as he began shouting and seeking to resist his deportation. Police and paramedics were called when Mubenga lost consciousness. The aircraft, which had been due to lift off, then returned to the terminal.[24] Mubenga was pronounced dead later that evening at Hillingdon hospital.[25] Passengers reported hearing cries of don’t do this and they are trying to kill me. Scotland Yard’s homicide unit is investigating after the death became categorised as unexplained. Three private security guards, contracted to escort deportees for the Home Office, were released on bail, after having been interviewed about the incident.[26]

On 17 October 2011, G4S announced it would buy Danish facilities management group, ISS A/S in a deal worth £5.2 billion. The merger would have created the world’s largest security, facilities management company.[27] Within two weeks, the deal was killed due to lack of shareholder support. [28] G4S’ chief, Nick Buckles recounted the events of the failed acquisition, which cost the company 10s of millions of dollars, as one of the most bruising experiences of my life.[29] A combination of institutional investors who led the response and the minority shareholders who followed, objected to a variety of factors, not the least of which was the additional leverage and debt the deal would introduce to G4S balance sheet. General consensus is that lack of planning for shareholder response on the G4S side doomed the deal.

Operations
G4S provides guarding services at various airports including Heathrow Airport, Oslo Airport, Brussels Airport, Schiphol Airport and OR Tambo Airport as well as at various facilities belonging to the US, UK, Canada and European Governments. It also operates custody facilities (including prisons) and electronic security systems. In addition, it provides cash management and logistics services for the main British and European Banks.[30] G4S owns the Wackenhut Corporation, a leading provider of security services in North America. They are also involved in risk management activities, consultancy and support in areas where infrastructure is limited, including services for governments, international peace and security agencies and multi-national corporations. Services also include land-mine clearance, ordnance management and training services. G4S also provides revenue protection services for railway companies across the UK. The company is a contractor in the UK Government’s Welfare to Work scheme.[31]
Source

Industry Areas
Mostly security and security related services.Security: guarding, alarm and cash services Safety: ambulance, rescue (including auto assistance), fire services, patient transport, psychological crisis therapy, personal care alarms and risk management. Global solutions: (public-private partnerships) includes prison and court services, meter-reading services, immigration services, education, prison transport and other outsourced services.[33]

This is the division which runs prisons and immigration detention. It is currently active in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Care and Justice makes up 7% of G4S’ total revenues. As well as locking people up, Care and Justice also takes other government contracts related to managing imprisoned and vulnerable people, e.g., asylum housing and electronic tagging.

G4S Care and Justice (UK) currently has contracts including :
five Ministry of Justice prison contracts: HMP Altcourse, HMP Birmingham, HMP Oakwood, HMP/YOI Parc, HMP Rye Hill;
Gatwick detention centres (Brook House and Tinsley House);
a separate contract to run the Tinsley House family unit where children are detained;
healthcare in Serco-managed Yarl’s Wood detention centre, as well as the Gatwick centres;
two COMPASS asylum housing contracts (Yorkshire, Humberside and the North East; Midlands and East of England);
police support and police station management contracts;
and a new (2017) electronic tagging contract – despite the 2013 scandal where it lost an earlier tagging contract, was investigated for fraud, and was temporarily banned from bidding for new government contracts.

One Care and Justice deal has not performed so well : the COMPASS asylum housing contracts. G4S has been losing substantial sums on these deals – though it still appears to be bidding for the new round of asylum housing tenders currently underway.

In 2012, the Home Office reorganised its system of housing asylum seekers (outside detention). Previously, there was a mixture of housing arrangements run by local authorities as well as private companies. Now all housing is provided by large private companies under regional contracts called “COMPASS” – “Commercial and Operational Managers Procuring Asylum Support Services”. The Home Office said it hoped to save £150 million over seven years through this arrangement. The six contracts were awarded to just three companies: G4S, Serco and Clearsprings Group. G4S won the contracts for “North East England, Yorkshire and the Humber” and “Midlands and East of England”.

But, as the Home Affairs Committee points out: “although the system of three Providers looks straightforward on the surface, below it lies a complex network of contractors, sub-contractors and hundreds of private landlords.” G4S’ sub-contractors include: Live Management Group Ltd, Target Housing Association, UHS Ltd, Mantel Estates Ld, Jomast, Cascade.

G4S sees technology, including automation, as key to its future development. For several years it has been developing technologies including artificial intelligence monitoring of CCTV systems and access control, and of course robot guards.

This area is led by a subsidiary called G4S Technology Ltd based in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire. G4S has been an active partner of state-sponsored security tech schemes: e.g., the EU STRANDS robot project involving a number of universities (Birmingham, Lincoln, Leeds, Aaachen, Vienna, and the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm).

In 2017, G4S sold its main Israeli business, which had been heavily involved in prisons and the occupied territories, for £88 million. However it still retains a 25% stake in the central Israel police training facility, called Policity. In fact its most recent Annual Report stills list three Israel subsidiaries: G4S Israel PPP Ltd; G4S international Logistics (Israel); and Policity Ltd (25%).

G4S bought the Armorgroup mercenary company in 2008, which was a major private military contractor in Iraq and Afghanistan and involved in numerous scandals. G4S continues to win major security contracts in both countries.

G4S has subsidiaries in tyrannical regimes including Sudan (Armorgroup Sudanese Co Ltd) and Syria (Group 4 Syria). Its Sudanese business has included working closely with the Sudan People’s Liberation Army – now the army of South Sudan, accused by the UN of war crimes involving “appalling instances of cruelty”.

 

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References
[1] Mostly taken from www.group4falck.com/object.php?obj=obj3b000c , viewed 10/10/01; and www.wackenhut.com , viewed 10/02/03.
[2] Norton-Taylor, R. (1999) Group 4 wins Pentagon contract, 29 September 1999, viewed 26/11/01
[3] Marshall, C. (1994) The Last Circle, www.lycaeum.org/books/books/last_circle/4.htm , viewed 12/3/03; www.geocities.com/Area51/Vault/6291/govment5.htm viewed 18/02/03
[4] Rintoul, S. (2002) Detention company’s murky origins, The Australian, 28/12/02, www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,5756510%255E23592,00.html , viewed 18/3/03.
[5] PR Newswire (2003) WCC Announces Agreement to Buy Out Controlling Interest Held by Group 4 Falck, http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030501/flth013_1.html , viewed 2/7/03.
[6] a b c Key facts and figures. G4S plc. Retrieved 7 February 2011.
[7] G4S buys into Brazil security market. Financial Times. 8 June 2010. Retrieved 25 August 2010.
[8] Meyerson, Harold (4 March 2009). Where Are the Workers?. The American Prospect. The American Prospect, Inc.. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
[9] Focus on G4S. Focusongroup4securicor.org. Retrieved 18 April 2011. (Broken Link) Profile Securicor
[10] Phillip Inman; David Gow (30 June 2005). Unions say Group 4 is unfair to workers. The Guardian (UK).
[11] Indonesia: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices  2005. United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. 8 March 2006.
[12] Violating Workers Rights: G4S in Indonesia. Focus on G4S. Retrieved 18 April 2011. (Broken Link)[13] G4S praised by Prime Minister for Union Recognition Agreement with GMB”. G4S. 22 June 2006.[14] G4S 4Teen. G4ssport.com. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
[15] Alison Chiesa (5 March 2008). Scots founder sells off pop concert security firm Rock Steady Theherald.co.uk Retrieved 18 April 2011.
[16] G4S plc Acquisition of RONCO Consulting Corporation”. G4s.com. 4 April 2008. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
[17] G4S buys security firm rival ArmorGroup for £43m (Broken Link)
[18] G4S buys GSL in £355m deal (Broken Link)
[19] G4S & UNI sign global agreement. UNI. 16 December 2008
[20] SEIU Reaches Agreement with Wackenhut: Agreement paves way for partnership on mutual goals. SEIU. 16 December 2008
[21] Winkler, Michael. G4S guards still on the job, despite the death of Ribs Ward. crikey.com.au, 24 March 2009
[22] Jackson, Liz (15 June 2009). Prison van firm under scrutiny after death Abc.net.au. Retrieved 18 April 2011
[23] Helicopter used in Sweden robbery BBC News
[24] a b Lewis, Paul; Matthew Taylor (18 October 2010). Jimmy Mubenga death: three men arrested The Guardian (UK). Retrieved 19 October 2010.
[25] Lewis, Paul; Matthew Taylor (15 October 2010). Deportation death: Jimmy Mubenga was a good man. The Guardian (UK). Retrieved 19 October 2010.
[26] G4S shares tumble on £5.2bn ISS takeover deal BBC News
[27] The Telegraph
[28] The Telegraph
[31] G4S services. G4s.com Retrieved 18 April 2011.
[32] Government’s welfare to work scheme launched. BBC News. 10 June 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
[33] Group 4 Falck, 3rd Quarter Report 2002, www.groupfalck.com/db/filesq3_2002_uk.pdf , viewed 10/2/02
 
Further Study
Wackenhut Corporation
The Realm of Corporate Statutes
In profile