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North East security company Protector Group is set to be transformed into a major industry player after being acquired by a US group.

The Team Valley based, which provides integrated security services, has been snapped up by Atlanta based Argenbright Group, a provider of human capital services. The business was launched by ex-Royal Marine John Harvey in 1994 and later secured backing from former Newcastle United chief executive, the late Freddie Fletcher, and has grown significantly over the years to operate offices in Scotland, Wolverhampton, Billingham, Hull, Milton Keynes and Leeds.

The Protector Group, which has been recognised in a number of industry awards, has seen its security solutions used across construction and critical national infrastructure projects such as HS2, The National Grid and Rail-based security deployments. Following its acquisition by The Argenbright Group, it will become part of Amberstone Security under the Argenbright umbrella while retaining its own identity.

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The news owners said the acquisition, combined with Argenbright Group’s track record in security services over four decades, will transform both Amberstone and The Protector Group into major security players across the º£½ÇÊÓƵ and Europe, and help in furthering excellent service delivery to the existing clients, whilst expanding both businesses into new sectors.

Jason Trigg, managing director of Amberstone, said: “There are a lot of parallels between the two businesses in that we are both entrepreneurial market disruptors who have always looked to change the narrative of the security industry and make the services on offer even more bespoke and customer-centric. This investment will provide cutting-edge solutions to realise Amberstone’s strategy and extend our leadership in providing its clients with innovative, IoT-enabled integrated security solutions.

“Combined with Protector, we have an opportunity to accelerate our growth across retail, logistics, distribution, construction and critical national infrastructure sectors to become the largest privately held security services group in the º£½ÇÊÓƵ in the short to medium term.”

Karan Ishwar, CEO of the Argenbright Group, said: “As a part of Argenbright’s global expansion, we had made an investment in Amberstone to support Jason and his leadership team to establish our presence in the º£½ÇÊÓƵ market. The Protector Group acquisition adds key capabilities in IoT-enabled integrated security solutions, a strong leadership team and entry into key sectors of construction and critical national infrastructure to take our º£½ÇÊÓƵ security business to the next level.