Leading Wine Merchant Outsources Security to the Keyholding Company

The Keyholding Company, one of the UK’s leading commercial keyholding and alarm response providers, has been awarded a contract by Berry Bros & Rudd to provide security services at their Head Offices based in London.

Berry Bros & Rudd is Britain’s oldest wine and spirit merchant, having traded from the same shop for 300 years. Their prestigious St James’ premises, located within a series of 17 th Century buildings comprises a shop and offices as well as extensive cellars that are used for hospitality and events.

The Keyholding Company is responsible for carrying out daily ‘lock and unlock’ services and property inspections. They are also contracted to attend alarm activations, providing a rapid response 24/7.

Penny Menzel, Corporate Hospitality Manager at Berry Bros & Rudd tells us: “The great benefit of this is that we don't have to ask our staff to respond during the night or out of hours, which is inconvenient, but also more importantly, can put our member of staff in danger. Instead we have peace of mind that a professional keyholder will provide a guaranteed response, and carry out a thorough security check of our properties."

If a break-in has occurred, the Warden will liaise with Police, and if necessary, organise for contractors to attend, make good the damage and ensure the property is left secure.

The company also acts a keyholder, responding to any other out of hour’s requests that may arise such as providing access for employees or contractors in case of emergencies relating to facilities such as water or electricity.

Talking about her decision to outsource their site security Menzel comments: “We hold regular hospitality events and wine tastings that often finish after midnight.”

“Our premises encompass a warren of buildings, so to check all the offices are locked, lights are turned off and windows are safely secured is a fairly arduous and time consuming task.”

“We felt that asking staff to undertake this important role after a long day at work was a significant burden to impose on them. Importantly, we also wanted to exercise a duty of care to our employees by removing any risk they may face by carrying out this task late at night on their own and decided to put this responsibility in the hands of a professional security organisation.”

“Having suffered breaches of service provision from our previous security contractor we carried out a comprehensive tender process. We evaluated three other companies before selecting The Keyholding Company who demonstrated a real understanding of our corporate culture and requirements and created a bespoke, cost-effective, single-point security solution for our premises.”

“We were aware of their reputation within the industry for providing first-class security solutions and following a successful three month pilot operation felt confident in choosing them as our contractor.”

Says Menzel: “To date, The Keyholding Company has never failed to provide the agreed level of service and has exceeded my expectations. The service has been exemplary. Immediacy of response times and prevention of potential hazards to our staff and the site, means that outsourcing our security has become vital to our business.”

“It gives us great peace of mind to know we have reliable, trustworthy organisation ensuring the security of the site outside of normal operating hours. This allows us to focus on our core activity, confident in the knowledge that our building is in safe and secure hands.” Concludes Menzel.