. g4s plc type public limited company traded as lse gfs nasdaq copenhagen g4s industry security founded 2004 12 years ago 2004 headquarters crawley england uk area served worldwide key people john connolly chairman ashley almanza ceo services manned security services cash handling services justice services and outsourced business processes related to security and safety risks revenue 6 863 million 2015 1 operating income 183 million 2015 1 net income 26 million 2015 1 number of employees 618 000 2015 2 subsidiaries g4s secure solutions website g4s.com g4s plc formerly group 4 securicor is a british multinational security services company headquartered in crawley england . 3 the company was set up in 2004 when london based company securicor amalgamated with danish business group 4 falck . 4 the company offers a range of services including the supply of security personnel monitoring equipment response units and secure prisoner transportation . g4s also works with governments overseas to deliver security . 5 it is the world s largest security company measured by revenues and has operations in around 125 countries . 2 6 with 618 000 employees it is world s third largest private employer the largest european and african private employer and among the largest on the london stock exchange . 2 7 8 g4s was founded in 2004 by the merger of the uk based securicor plc with the denmark based group 4 falck . g4s has a primary listing on the london stock exchange and is a constituent of the ftse 250 index having been relegated from the ftse 100 index in december 2015 . contents 1 history 1.1 origins 1.2 2004 to 2010 1.3 since 2010 1.3.1 acquisitions of guidance monitoring and chubb 1.3.2 aborted acquisition of iss 1.3.3 management and other changes 1.3.4 failure to meet london 2012 security contract 1.3.5 sale of wackenhut pakistan 1.3.6 public eye award 1.3.7 employee omar mateen 2 operations 2.1 activities 2.2 operating structure 3 corporate social responsibility 4 sponsorships 5 controversies 6 see also 7 references 8 external links history edit origins edit g4s has its origins in a guarding business founded in copenhagen in 1901 by marius hogrefe originally known as k benhavn frederiksberg nattevagt english copenhagen and frederiksberg night watch and subsequently renamed falck english falcon . 9 in 2000 group 4 a security firm formed in the 1960s merged with falck to form group 4 falck 9 and by 2000 the company was described as the world s largest private security systems company . 10 in 2002 group 4 falck went on to buy the wackenhut corporation in the united states . 11 2004 to 2010 edit a g4s van in central london g4s was formed in july 2004 when group 4 falck s security business merged with securicor to create group 4 securicor and began trading on both the london and copenhagen stock exchanges . 12 in 2005 lars n rby johansen was succeeded as chief executive by nick buckles and in 2006 the new g4s brand identity was rolled out across its business worldwide . 13 14 in the same year alf duch pedersen succeeded jorgen philip sorensen to become the non executive chairman of the business . 15 in 2006 2007 and 2008 g4s was the subject of a global campaign by union workers alleging that its 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 . 16 this group supported protests at group 4 securicor s annual general meeting in london in 2005 . 17 the 2006 us state department report on human rights in indonesia released in march 2006 featured the ongoing dispute in jakarta with group4 securicor . 18 in july 2006 the indonesian securicor workers had a substantial win but the campaigners continue to support other group 4 securicor workers . 19 the company disputed these claims and pointed to its strong relationships with unions around the world including the gmb in britain . 20 in march 2008 it was announced that g4s were taking over scottish rock steady group who steward 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 . 21 in april 2008 g4s acquired ronco consulting corporation one of the world s premier humanitarian and commercial mine action ordnance disposal and security companies . 22 in may 2008 g4s acquired armorgroup international . 23 gsl a provider of outsourced justice services was also acquired by g4s in may 2008 . 24 also in the same month g4s acquired serbian company progard securitas . 25 in 2008 g4s also acquired touchcom inc. for us 23 million . touchcom inc. is located in the burlington bedford massachusetts area . the rebranding of touchcom inc. to g4s was completed by 1 january 2012 . 26 in december 2008 g4s and uni global union announced the launch of an ethical employment partnership which will drive improvements in standards across the global security industry . 27 simultaneous to this g4s and the seiu reached an agreement to end their long dispute and establish a framework to work together in the interest of employees . 28 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 for 60 million 29 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 . 9 the v stberga helicopter robbery occurred on 23 september 2009 at 05 15 cet when a g4s cash service depot was robbed in v stberga in southern stockholm sweden . 30 31 in the autumn of 2009 g4s personnel in australia went on strike arguing that the company had subjected them to low pay and poor working conditions . the strike imperiled the operations of the court system in the state of victoria . the guards provided entry point screening for weapons and bombs in both the county court and magistrates court as well as additional security in the court rooms themselves . 32 since 2010 edit g4s acquired the south african security systems company skycom in september 2010 . 33 then in april 2011 it bought the cotswold group a surveillance and investigations company . 34 acquisitions of guidance monitoring and chubb edit in april 2011 g4s acquired guidance monitoring an international designer and manufacturer of electronic monitoring technologies including hardware and software used for offender monitoring and tracking . 35 in december 2011 g4s acquired the assets of chubb emergency response a large key holding company in the uk . the deal was finalised on 17 december 2011 . the business has now been integrated into their existing key holding and response service . 36 aborted acquisition of iss edit on 17 october 2011 g4s announced it would purchase the denmark based facilities management group iss a s for 5.2 billion . the acquisition would have created the world s largest facilities management company . 37 within two weeks the deal was dropped due to lack of shareholder support . 38 g4s s chief nick buckles recounted the events of the failed acquisition which cost the company tens of millions of dollars as ... one of the most bruising experiences of my life . 39 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 s balance sheet . general consensus is that lack of planning for shareholder response on the g4s side doomed the deal . furthermore many investors and analysts questioned why the company would want to purchase a firm so far removed from its area of expertise . 40 alf duch pedersen resigned as g4s chairman after the failure of this acquisition and was replaced by john connolly . 41 management and other changes edit in march 2012 g4s announced that it would sell the struggling g4s government solutions business the former wackenhut wsi and all star business to exit the us government services . 42 in may 2013 buckles resigned as chief executive of g4s with 1.2 million payoff and was replaced by ashley almanza . 43 failure to meet london 2012 security contract edit on 12 july 2012 it was announced that 3 500 british troops would be deployed at the 2012 summer olympics due to a shortage of adequately trained g4s security staff with labour mp keith vaz claiming that g4s has let the country down and we have literally had to send in the troops . 44 shares in g4s later dropped 9 percent after the firm claimed it faced a possible 50 million loss as a result of failing to provide sufficient trained staff for the 2012 olympic games . 45 on 17 july the company s chief executive nick buckles appeared before the home affairs select committee where he apologised for the organisational failings expressed regret at having taken on the olympic security contract and agreed in principle to pay bonuses to soldiers drafted at the last moment as replacement security staff . 46 pressed by labour mp david winnick he was forced to admit that organisational situation had become a humiliating shambles . 47 in newcastle g4s were replaced by 500 staff from local security firms for olympic events . 48 in scotland g4s were stripped of the security role with it passing to strathclyde police . 49 at dorney lake the olympic rowing and canoeing venue a g4s manager reported g4s radios were not working so staff were relying on personal mobile phones to communicate ; g4s confirmed the venue was being manned by military personnel after 66 percent of rostered g4s staff were failing to show . the venue manager reported parts of the cctv system had already been replaced by army patrols and a complete army takeover was on the cards . 50 on 22 july 2012 a contractor reported that a third of his expected staff had not turned up ; instead he was sent a group of mainly female teenage students with minimal training whom he turned away as he did not feel comfortable leaving them for night duties . 51 following the olympics contract failures the chief constables of bedfordshire cambridgeshire and hertfordshire were to recommend abandoning outsourcing work to g4s . they were backed by jim paice the agriculture minister and conservative mp for south east cambridgeshire . 52 on 8 august 2012 g4s announced that it had finally contracted enough employees to fully fulfil its contract for the olympic games . although missing its initial target of 10 000 g4s announced the sending of 7 000 personnel each day to olympic venues in a way they felt would allow them to fully secure each venue . 53 following the olympics games g4s provided a donation of 2.5 million to military charities as a goodwill gesture . 54 sale of wackenhut pakistan edit g4s announced in late august 2012 that it would be selling its pakistan division wackenhut pakistan limited to its chairman ikram sehgal for a figure of around 10 million according to the financial times . 55 sehgal disputed this figure calling it speculative in a statement to the express tribune . 55 public eye award edit g4s was one of the nominees for the 2013 public eye award a counter event created by ngos which awards the worst company of the year . 56 employee omar mateen edit g4s was in the news in june 2016 because of employee omar mateen the gunman