ECI is delighted to announce our investment in Send For Help, the world’s leading provider of lone worker protection. The partnership will support the company’s growth strategy and internationalisation.
Founded in 2010, Send For Help operates under its three subsidiary brands, Skyguard, Peoplesafe and Guardian 24. The company protects more than 150,000 lone workers in the UK and Ireland with it’s innovative personal safety devices and mobile phone apps, all linked to a dedicated Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC), staffed 24 hours a day. Users can request help at the touch of a button through their device or app’s ‘SOS’ function. Highly trained ARC staff will offer them assistance and escalate to the appropriate emergency service, providing a faster response than 999. Customers include NHS trusts, local authorities, utilities and major corporations.
The company has achieved rapid growth and success, becoming one of only a handful of businesses to be named in The Sunday Times Fast Track 100 list on three consecutive occasions and gaining recognition from the Financial Times as one of Europe’s fastest growing businesses.
With an estimated 8 million lone workers in the UK, 23 million in the US and 30 million Europe, the lone worker protection market in Europe and America is forecast to double from £105 million per annum to £226 million by 2021 according to research by analysts Berg Insight.
Send For Help has recently appointed Richard Houghton, former co-founder of Xchanging, as Chairman.
Tom Wrenn, Partner at ECI Partners, said: “Send for Help is just the type of business that ECI wants to work with- offering an excellent service to clients, enjoying a leading position in a growing market, and boasting a highly effective management team. We look forward to working with James and his team to help them realise the next stage of their growth plan.”
James Murray, CEO of Send for Help, said: “ECI have a strong track record of partnering with technology-enabled support service providers and we’re delighted to be working with Tom and the broader ECI team. We have ambitious growth plans to build on our number one market position by reaching ever more customers in the UK and abroad, and helping them to keep their employees safe.”
