Security company, the Guardsman Group, founded by Kenny Benjamin almost fifty years ago, took the bold step to set up operations beyond its headquarters in Jamaica and now has a footprint in the Eastern Caribbean, more specifically St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Barbados.

It also has a presence in the Bahamas and Bermuda.

Beginning operations in St Lucia in 2005, Guardsman has, for more than two decades, carved out a stellar reputation for guarding, cash in transit, and monitoring and response services ( M&R). 

Such is Guardsman’s reputation in St. Lucia that it provides security services for the four commercial banks there, namely Republic Bank, First National Bank, Bank of St. Lucia and CIBC. 

Guardsman is the market leader in the eastern Caribbean territories in which it has a presence

Jeanine Henry serves as General Manager for Guardsman St. Lucia as well as being  Guardsman Group’s Assistant Vice President-International Markets with oversight for St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Barbados.

Speaking with Our Today, Henry said: “We provide armed and unarmed guarding services. In some territories, we provide canine guarding. We also do cash management and transits, replenishments and serving ATMs across all three islands. Our services also include cash processing and deposit processing. Then there is alarm monitoring and response. In some cases, we do hardware installations.

“The quality of our service and the value proposition is critical, so we don’t try to do everything. We don’t try to be everything to everybody. At Guardsman, we are about value and service quality. We will not compromise our service quality with our existing customer base”

Guardsman is the only security company to provide a cybersecurity unit for clients in the eastern Caribbean.

The aim isn’t to make every territory in the eastern Caribbean identical; one size does not fit all. Henry explained further: “If we develop products and services in one territory, we should be asking whether that can strengthen another operation. My mandate and mantra is to establish consistent standards while still allowing the local businesses to respond to their markets. That applies to technology, operational practices, customer service, training and management systems.

“We have done a survey in both St Vincent and Barbados, and we are considered market leaders there. Of course, we don’t take it for granted; we are always looking for a competitive edge. 

“Our conversation with the customer doesn’t centre on how many security guards you need. It begins with what are the risks you are trying to manage and what is the most effective solution. Many of our competitors do not offer the range of services that we do. They do not take the holistic, integrated approach that we do. They tend to focus on traditional guarding, traditional cash and transit, traditional monitoring and response. In St Lucia, we integrate modern technology into the services we offer. 

Guardsman has diversified its products and services and has embarked on employing high-tech into its solutions. This has created a gap between itself and its competitors. However, it is aware that the human element remains central and that technology enables better professionalism. Guardsman has made bold investments in upping the ante in state-of-the-art technology, seeing to it that it evolves with the times.

Jeanine Henry is the Guardsman senior executive ushering in these technological advancements in the eastern Caribbean. 

“There are things in the security business that technology can do exceptionally well, such as monitoring analytics, detection, providing information and response. Technology is critical to Guardsman’s future, and it must be said that it will not be completely replacing people. Technology allows us to deploy our people more effectively and deliver stronger security solutions to the customer. This is what the customer wants because the customer’s needs are changing.

They are now more sensitive to risk, protecting information, protecting assets, protecting their people. Technology is the way of the future for Guardsman across the region, just like it is in Jamaica. We have to respond to the customer’s needs at the moment and anticipate the needs of the future. In this respect, we are moving in the direction of technology-enabled integrated solutions used in all of our services.”

The major differentiator between Guardsman and other eastern Caribbean security players is the breadth of its offerings and the capabilities within the Group. It doesn’t take a one-dimensional approach. 

Guardsman Group Deputy Executive Chairman Nicholas Benjamin observed, “There’s a lot of technology adoption in theory, but what we see in the eastern Caribbean is a hunger for SMART solutions. Once adoption solidifies, take up will come quickly. We are drilling down on what differentiates us from our competitors.”

Guardsman St Lucia’s General Manager Jeanine Henry declared to all those looking to secure Guardsman’s services in St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Barbados, “ We are going to provide value, and we’re not going to compete on cost. If we compete on cost, we are compromising our reputation. Guardsman is not in the business of compromising its reputation. Our reputation will go way into the future. Even when Chairman is no longer around, even when I am no longer around, our reputation is what is going to give us that level of sustainability.”