Specialist Installers and Suppliers of
Monitored CCTV
Who Are The Top Five Security Companies In The UK?
Quick answer
Five of the leading site security companies in the UK are:
- Platinum Asset Protection for full-service site security combining CCTV, monitoring, fire detection, access control and analytics under one provider
- Clearway for broad group coverage across security, vacant property and life safety
- WCCTV for in-house manufactured redeployable CCTV and body worn cameras
- VPS Group for end to end vacant property protection at national scale
- Orbis Protect for long established vacant property and lone worker protection
Each one is strong in a different area, and the right answer depends on your site rather than on any league table.
How should you judge a UK security company?
Most “best of” lists rank companies by size. Size tells you very little about whether your site will be protected on a wet Tuesday night in February.
These five criteria matter far more:
- Breadth of the offer. Can one provider cover surveillance, detection, access, fire and monitoring, or will you end up managing several contractors who each blame the other when something fails?
- Who monitors the cameras. An in-house control room and an outsourced third party are not the same service. In-house means the people watching your site work for the company you contracted.
- Detection quality. Basic motion detection triggers on rain, foxes, headlights and moving trees. Better analytics filter those out so operators only see real events.
- Who installs it. Subcontracted installation means a third party is on your site and a longer chain when something needs fixing.
- Speed of deployment. After a break-in or on a project that has just gone live, the difference between two days and two weeks is the difference between prevention and a claim.
Use those five points as your checklist when you speak to any provider on this list, including us.
1. Platinum Asset Protection
Best for: sites needing surveillance, detection, access control, fire cover and monitoring from one accountable provider.
Platinum Asset Protection is a UK-wide site security company headquartered in Morley, Leeds, operating since 2018. It works across construction sites, industrial premises, warehouses, events, commercial property, vacant buildings and private estates, covering the UK mainland with regional engineer response from Yorkshire to Scotland, Wales and the South West.
What Platinum Asset Protection offers
Surveillance covers rapid deployment CCTV towers running on hybrid solar and generator power with multi-angle HD coverage, thermal cameras for conditions where standard cameras struggle, intelligent video analytics that turn existing site cameras into a live detection system, and timelapse cameras for a dated record of a build.
Davantis analytics handle perimeter and intrusion detection, classifying genuine human and vehicle intrusion separately from environmental movement. That distinction matters more than it sounds: when a system produces twenty false alerts a night, operators start treating alerts as noise and response slips.
Monitoring runs through PAP’s own 24/7 control room, providing verified alarm response and live audio intervention, with no handover to a separate monitoring contractor. Beyond surveillance, the range includes access control from keypad through to biometric and cloud-managed systems, commercial fire alarm and detection, vacant property security with documented dated inspections and keyholding, drone survey services, contactless fever screening, a Bi3 and Eluviant powered health and safety analytics package, and high net worth residential security with personnel available through sister company Frontline Security.
Every project begins with a free site survey, and rapid deployment systems are typically live within 48 hours of survey approval. CCTV hire is priced competitively and quoted per site after survey.
Credentials and accreditations
SIA Approved Contractor status, Constructionline, CHAS, SafeContractor, Achilles and ICO registration. Installation is carried out by PAP’s own engineers rather than subcontracted, which keeps equipment faults the company’s responsibility to put right. A white-label Platinum Partners programme allows other firms to deliver the full range under their own brand.
Who it suits
Contractors, developers, property risk managers and site teams who would rather hold one relationship than five. It works particularly well where a site needs several layers at once, for example construction site security combining monitored surveillance, gate access control and fire detection as a project moves through its phases.
Trade-offs to weigh
PAP is a security specialist, not a property management group. If you manage thousands of empty properties and need glazing, clearance, pest control and maintenance bundled with security, VPS Group or Orbis Protect will serve you better. If you specifically want hardware designed and built by the company you buy from, WCCTV is the closer fit. PAP is also the youngest company on this list, founded in 2018, which matters to buyers whose procurement rules weight trading history heavily.
2. Clearway
Best for: organisations wanting security, vacant property services and life safety under one group relationship.
Clearway is a UK-based provider of security services, vacant property protection, security technology and life safety systems, headquartered in London and operating across the UK and Europe including France. The origins of the business go back to 1992 through Clearway Environmental Services, and The Clearway Group was formally established as a holding company in 2016 to bring multiple specialist businesses together under the Clearway brand. The group has since grown through acquisition, adding vacant property specialists and expanding its regional footprint, and now operates as a holding company for a substantial portfolio of specialist businesses.
What Clearway offers
The technology side covers fixed and temporary CCTV, mobile CCTV and towers, video alarms, access control, lone worker devices and data analytics. Its inView CCTV tower is the standalone unit used where CCTV and remote monitoring are required together, deployed on construction sites, vacant land, yards, events and rural locations. All of it is underpinned by an NSI Gold Cat II alarm receiving centre providing round the clock monitoring.
Beyond technology, the group covers vacant property protection with steel doors and screens, manned guarding and dog patrols, concrete barriers, fire and life safety systems design and maintenance, and a services division handling environmental waste clearance, extreme cleaning, biohazard removal and crime scene clean-up. The group has also invested in AI, analytics and smart monitoring technologies.
Credentials and accreditations
ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 45001:2018 across its business units, alongside SSAIB, Exor, Constructionline and Environment Agency registrations. The group has worked with large public and private organisations including local councils, the NHS, the Metropolitan Police, Amazon, and major property managers, construction firms, highways companies and hotel groups.
Who it suits
Larger organisations that want security, environmental clearance and fire and life safety compliance from a single group relationship. The public sector track record and the breadth of the accreditation set make it a comfortable choice for formal procurement processes, and the France operation suits businesses with cross-Channel assets.
Trade-offs to weigh
A holding company structure covering many operating businesses gives real breadth, but it can mean more contacts and a longer chain between your site and the person who makes decisions about it. Worth asking who owns your account day to day and which operating company will actually attend the site.
3. WCCTV
Best for: buyers who want surveillance hardware designed, built and supported by the same company.
WCCTV, formally Wireless CCTV Ltd, was formed in Rochdale in 2001 to meet demand for surveillance technology that could operate independently of fixed infrastructure networks. It has UK offices in Edinburgh and Luton alongside its Rochdale headquarters, plus a US base in Texas opened in 2015, and relocated to a purpose-built 40,000 square foot head office in Rochdale in April 2025. In 2021 the business secured a significant minority investment to support domestic and international expansion.
What WCCTV offers
WCCTV manufactures its own products rather than reselling, with a range covering redeployable CCTV, mobile surveillance towers, body worn cameras, PID units and time lapse video. Systems are designed to transmit securely over cellular networks, which is the original problem the company was founded to solve.
Hire is available on a flexible basis from a week upwards, with packages bundling delivery, installation, NSI Gold accredited live video monitoring, maintenance, system relocation and technical support from a single provider. Its environmental work includes solar-powered surveillance towers with methanol fuel cell backup.
Credentials and accreditations
SIA approved contractor status for CCTV services, plus ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 27001 and ISO 45001, giving it information security certification that not every provider on this list holds. Its innovation record includes a Queen’s Award for Enterprise for its redeployable CCTV systems and a Home Office Scientific Development Branch award, and it was the first company to have a video product certified by Verizon Wireless in the US for 3G and 4G transmission.
Who it suits
Local authorities, police forces, retailers, housing associations, rail and infrastructure operators who need proven mobile surveillance with a manufacturer behind it. It is a natural choice where body worn cameras and site CCTV are wanted from the same supplier, and where ISO 27001 matters to the buyer.
Trade-offs to weigh
A manufacturer-led model gives engineering depth and long product support, but it also means you work within that manufacturer’s range. If you want a provider that specifies technology from whichever vendor best fits the site, that is a different buying decision. The offer is also weighted toward surveillance rather than wider site services such as access control or fire detection.
4. VPS Group
Best for: national vacant property portfolios needing security and property services handled together.
Established in 1993, VPS Group began by providing physical security to the UK vacant property market and has grown into a fully integrated provider combining monitored technology, human intervention and physical protection across Europe. It operates through more than 30 service centres across the UK and Ireland, structured into multiple business divisions, and looks after roughly 50,000 units at any one time across commercial and residential sectors.
What VPS offers
The security range spans CCTV towers and smart cameras, intruder alarms and monitoring, steel doors and screens, concrete barriers, manned guarding and mobile response, and protection by occupation through property guardians. Monitored video technology is used to detect unauthorised activity as well as fire, flood and alarm conditions.
The property services side is where VPS differs from a pure security provider: clearance and cleaning, glazing for both insurance and commercial specification work, mould prevention and removal, pest control, lock changes, grounds maintenance and preparation for reoccupation or sale. The security approach is structured around deterrence, detection, delay and denial, applied across a property’s whole lifecycle from the day it becomes vacant.
Credentials and accreditations
VPS business units including Nexus and VPS Site Security hold SIA approval. The company works with major FTSE insurance, security and property firms, and partners a large number of social housing providers, turning tens of thousands of vacant properties back into occupied homes each year. Solutions are commonly specified in conjunction with insurers, which matters where cover is conditional on particular security measures.
Who it suits
Insurers, social housing providers, local authorities, asset managers and anyone running a large portfolio of empty buildings where security is only part of the problem and the property also needs maintaining, clearing and preparing. The insurer relationships are a genuine advantage where a policy specifies minimum security standards.
Trade-offs to weigh
The breadth is the point, but it also sets the floor. If you need a monitored system on one construction site for eight weeks, a full-service property group is more organisation than the job requires. The centre of
gravity is vacant and void property rather than active construction environments.
5. Orbis Protect
Best for: vacant property protection combined with lone worker safety, from a long established national operator.
Founded in 1981, Orbis is the longest trading company on this list. It provides vacant property solutions, site security and people protection across the UK and Europe, with more than 900 employees, a network of 25 offices and depots across the UK, and a fleet of over 300 vehicles supporting inspections nationally.
What Orbis offers
Vacant property services cover security, inspections, clearance, insolvency support and lawful recovery of occupied property. Site security includes its EnviroHoard and EnviroFence hoarding and fencing systems, alongside Sitex physical security products designed to reduce the risk of squatting, arson, graffiti and fly-tipping.
Its alarm receiving centre monitors CCTV systems, alarms and lone worker devices, with operators coordinating escalation to mobile response teams, keyholders and police. Orbis reports direct access to national police control rooms, bypassing the 999 route, and uses AI-assisted detection to flag suspicious activity. The RedAlert platform covers lone worker protection, an area most security providers do not address at all.
Credentials and accreditations
Alarm receiving centre operators are SIA trained. Its EnviroHoard and EnviroFence products have achieved independently verified EPD certification, which supports customers reporting against environmental targets. Four decades of trading gives it one of the longest track records in the UK vacant property sector, and it publishes guidance on emerging site risks such as organised trespass and illegal raves.
Who it suits
Organisations combining vacant property risk with a workforce that operates alone or in the field, particularly housing providers, local authorities, insolvency practitioners and insurers who want inspections, evictions, hoarding and security handled by one contractor. The lone worker capability makes it a strong fit where employee safety and property risk sit with the same manager.
Trade-offs to weigh
Orbis is strongest in vacant property and people protection. For active construction projects needing integrated surveillance, access control and fire detection designed together, providers who specialise in that environment tend to move faster and design more tightly around the site.
Quick comparison
Provider | Founded | UK footprint | Core strength | Best suited to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Platinum Asset Protection | 2018 | Leeds HQ, UK mainland coverage | Integrated site security with in-house control room and installation | Sites needing several layers of protection from one provider |
Clearway | 1992 origins, group formed 2016 | London HQ, UK and France | Security, vacant property and life safety across one group | Large organisations wanting multiple services under one brand |
WCCTV | 2001 | Rochdale HQ, Edinburgh, Luton, US | In-house manufactured redeployable CCTV and body worn cameras | Public sector, policing, retail and infrastructure |
VPS Group | 1993 | 30+ service centres, UK and Ireland | Vacant property security plus full property services | National empty property portfolios |
Orbis Protect | 1981 | 25 offices and depots UK-wide | Vacant property, hoarding and lone worker protection | Housing, insurers and field-based workforces |
How do you choose the right one for your site?
Work through these four questions before you request quotes.
How many problems are you actually solving? If it is one camera position on one boundary, most providers here will do. If it is perimeter detection, gate access, fire cover and out-of-hours monitoring on a site that changes shape every month, you want those designed together rather than bought separately.
Is this a site or a portfolio? Single active sites and portfolios of empty buildings are different problems with different specialists. VPS Group and Orbis Protect are built for the second. PAP, Clearway and WCCTV are more commonly used for the first.
Who will actually be watching, and who will install it? Ask whether monitoring is in-house or subcontracted, whether engineers are employed or brought in, and what the escalation path looks like in writing.
What is the false alarm rate? This is the question most buyers forget. Ask what detection technology is used, how it separates people and vehicles from environmental movement, and what a typical night’s alert volume looks like on a comparable site.
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★ Add Platinum Asset Protection as a Preferred SourceFrequently Asked Questions
Which UK security company is best for construction sites?
It depends on project length and site conditions. For sites needing rapid deployment, monitored surveillance and integrated access or fire cover, Platinum Asset Protection, Clearway and WCCTV are the usual shortlist. For large multi-site programmes bundled with property services, VPS Group and Orbis Protect are more common choices.
Which is best for vacant and empty properties?
VPS Group and Orbis Protect both specialise here and offer property services alongside security, which matters when a building needs clearing, glazing or maintaining as well as protecting. Clearway and Platinum Asset Protection also provide vacant property security, and tend to suit smaller numbers of properties or cases where monitored technology is the priority.
Is monitored CCTV cheaper than manned guarding?
In most cases yes, particularly for overnight and weekend cover, because a monitored system does not carry per-hour staffing costs across the whole period. The saving varies with site size and cover hours, so ask for a comparison based on your actual requirement rather than a general figure.
What does Davantis detection do?
It is video analytics used for perimeter and intrusion detection. It classifies what triggered a camera, so genuine intrusion by people or vehicles is separated from rain, animals, vegetation and passing headlights. Fewer false alerts means operators can respond properly to the real ones.
How quickly can site security be installed?
Rapid deployment systems can often be live within 48 hours of survey approval, and sometimes faster following a break-in. Fixed installations such as access control or fire detection take longer because they are designed around the building. Confirm timescales for your specific requirement when you enquire.
What accreditations should a UK security company hold?
SIA Approved Contractor status is the baseline for security services. Beyond that, look for NSI or SSAIB accreditation for monitoring, ISO 9001 for quality management, ISO 27001 where data security matters, and construction sector schemes such as Constructionline, CHAS or SafeContractor if the work involves live building sites.
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