Industry news: What are the trends in the private security market?
A look back at the analysis of the private security market carried out by Atlas En toute Sécurité.
What are the key findings for 2019? What are the trends for 2020 and 2021?
2019: human safety accelerates its performance significantly
The human security market is showing significant growth in 2019 with sales of €4,329.4bn, up +3.7% vs 2018.
This performance is linked to a significant increase in demand in certain sectors, notably transport, Seveso sites, retail chains, sports and cultural venues, etc.
As a result of this market upturn, the number of bankrupt companies is down significantly (7% vs. 9% in 2018). Most bankrupt companies are of modest size.
A market that remains fragmented
The 5 leaders hold 32% market share, compared with 31% in 2018. This remains a low level. Despite the market's growth and the demand for higher quality, the price war is back with a vengeance, and may yet gain momentum.
Onet Security retains4th place in the Top 10.
2020 forecasts: the human safety market heavily impacted by the health crisis
After 6 years of growth, the human security market is set to experience a very sharp downturn in 2020 due to the effects of the health crisis (Sales forecast for 2020: -11% or €3,852.1 billion).
This significant drop in activity is the result of the closure of many businesses and transport networks during the containment period, and the severe economic downturn afterwards.
More generally, the entire private security sector will have experienced the greatest crisis in its history. According to estimates by the Atlas En Toute Sécurité, growth in the industry is set to fall by around 7% by 2020, with major disparities between sectors (very sharp decline in airport security and event security, for example).
But the rule that security performs better than the country's economy is once again confirmed, as government projections point to a 10% drop in GDP by 2020.
Private security: prospects for profound change in the profession in 2021
While the outlook for 2021 remains uncertain, there is a strong likelihood that the panorama of private security players will undergo a major overhaul (more bankruptcies, structuring takeovers with the emergence of new leaders, accelerated R&D in terms of regulations for certain cutting-edge technologies such as facial recognition, etc.).
New tasks have been assigned to security guards, such as overseeing compliance with mask wearing requirements and queue management.
Security managers have also largely adapted their missions due to the epidemic, and are anticipating new changes in their 2021 projects, with tighter controls at site reception, heightened awareness of cyber-risks, with attacks multiplying during the health crisis, particularly during confinement, and so on.
More than ever, private security will have to demonstrate its flexibility to adapt, as it has done in the past.
Source Atlas En Toute Sécurité, 2019 data
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