Northern Security enlarges senior team

Northern Security Ltd has appointed security negotiator Ashley Jones to head up its sales management team in North East England. Ashley is now Business Development Manager at the guarding firm's Middlesbrough branch, taking charge of its fast-growing portfolio of clients in the region.

Born and educated in South Shields, Ashley brings to Northern Security a wide-ranging management expertise gained both within and without the security industry.

He began his security career with the regional division of a national guarding company, becoming one of its youngest-ever managers of "cash in transit" operations.

Ashley then joined Imperial Tobacco and began a 20-year career with the multinational giant which took him across Europe, liaising with the group's network of distributors and customers.

An opportunity to take on a key management role with a large Sunderland security firm then brought his working life closer to home - and now, with Northern Security, Ashley takes charge of the fast-expanding company's NE manned guarding contracts.

Northern Security provides security officers to a wide range of public and private sector clients throughout the North of England, and also has separate divisions specialising in the design and installation of CCTV, electronic alarms and access control systems.

The company (www.northernsecurityltd.co.uk) recently announced its acquisition of another major NE guarding firm, Hayde Security.

Northern Security's headquarters are in Carlisle, Cumbria - and last year the company opened a Manchester branch to handle its growing customer base throughout the North West and Midlands.

According to Northern Security sales director Peter Smith, the expansion of the company's Middlesbrough sales team is in response to a continuing rise in new business gains and enquiries:

"The economic recession is prompting many organisations to look more closely at their security arrangements - but not necessarily from the point of view of what they are paying," said Peter.

"Often they are demanding ways to measure effectiveness, and Northern Security has developed a number of unique management tools which allow clients to make such evaluations," he added.