Manned guarding in Edinburgh

Manned guarding services in Edinburgh

Each site needs a different mix of posts, depending on how the building is used and who comes through the door. Our manned guarding services in Edinburgh include:

• Front of house and reception security
• Access control and visitor management, including sign-in at the door
• Static guarding of buildings, yards and gatehouses
• Retail security and loss prevention
• Out-of-hours patrols and lock-up at the end of the day
• CCTV monitoring by officers with the SIA CCTV licence

• Reception officers greet visitors, check identity, issue passes and run sign-in. As they are often the first person a visitor meets, we brief them on your building, tenants and procedures before the first shift.
• Static guards hold a fixed post such as a gatehouse, loading bay or main entrance and control who comes and goes.
• Out-of-hours officers patrol the building once staff leave and lock up.

Officers can wear corporate dress, business casual or branded uniform. For shops over the festive period, see our retail security in Edinburgh at Christmas.

Edinburgh sites we provide manned security guards for

Every part of the city has its own type of building and its own access points, so each site gets its own post instructions. We cover commercial sites across the city and the Lothians, including:

• New Town: Georgian townhouses and converted offices around St Andrew Square, George Street and Charlotte Square, often with several tenants behind one shared entrance
• Lothian Road financial district: the Exchange District around Festival Square and Morrison Street, with large multi-tenant office buildings and staffed reception desks
• Quartermile: the mixed office and residential development on the former Royal Infirmary site by the Meadows
• City centre retail: Princes Street, George Street and the streets between, where shops want a visible officer through trading hours
• West Edinburgh business parks such as Edinburgh Park and South Gyle, with large office campuses beside the tram and rail stations
• Industrial estates such as Sighthill and Newbridge, where gatehouses and yards need a fixed post
• Leith: offices, units and mixed-use buildings around the Shore and Commercial Street

Manned guarding is one part of our commercial security across Edinburgh and Scotland.

Contract options and cover patterns

Some sites need an officer every day, others only once staff have gone home. Cover patterns include:

• Short-term cover during a refit, move or staff absence
• Permanent officers placed on your site for the long term
• Evenings and weekends only, for sites staffed during the day
• Rotating 24/7 teams, with officers working in shifts so the post is covered around the clock
• Emergency cover when you need an officer today, with most Edinburgh deployments within 2 to 4 hours

We agree the pattern once we have learned about your site and requirements, and set it out in your quotation and security plan. We keep the same officers on a client wherever possible, so your staff and visitors see familiar faces. If your site needs regular checks rather than a full-time officer, see mobile patrols and keyholding in Edinburgh, or our guide to manned guarding vs mobile patrols.

Examples of our guarding work

Clients bring us in to deal with a specific risk, such as car theft or antisocial behaviour.

• Vehicle security: Komoo needed its Edinburgh premises guarded overnight while customers' cars were in for repair. Our officers covered 9pm to 6am, walked the site and sent the client an hourly report and a time-stamped walk video to prevent car theft.
• Private land: private landowners with an antisocial behaviour problem had two of our guards walking the land through the day and controlling responsible access.

Licensing, supervision and reporting

If you contract a company to guard your premises, its officers must be licensed. Under the Private Security Industry Act, anyone supplied under contract to guard premises or property against damage, theft, unauthorised access or disorderly behaviour needs an SIA security guard licence or a licence that includes it. Every On Guard officer holds an SIA licence.

Source: GOV.UK, Find out if you need an SIA licence.

Each contract starts with a walk of the site to check the layout, entry and exit points and how people move through the building. Shifts are supervised and you have a named On Guard liaison throughout. Depending on the package, officers can also send hourly walkthrough videos and WhatsApp updates to your site manager.

How it works

1. Get in touchWhatsApp or email us with your location, dates and what you need covered.
2. Site auditWe learn about your site or event: layout, entry points, risks and timings.
3. Tailored planYou receive a written quotation and a security or loss prevention plan.
4. Deployment and reportingSIA licensed officers on site, supervised, with records you can check.