'Security is a higher priority for businesses since Covid'

Reconnaissance Group adapts and expands after a challenging two years

Reconnaissance Group is opening up new positions that have come into play as a result of the pandemic.

In its task of providing uniquely designed security services to suit individual company requirements, the Reconnaissance Group team is comprised of operatives from a range of military, police, security, legal, and business backgrounds.

The company is already under way with adding 20 new positions in response to an increase in demand for its services.

“We have certainly had a very good 2021 and towards the end of that year we established a team in Dublin with a view to growing the business there — something we previously hadn’t done,” explains CEO Shane Henry of the prospects for a similarly active year in 2022.

The 20 roles will be split between security services and Covid protocols around client issues in relation to the pandemic, he says.

“We are thrilled to be growing our business on home soil and opening up new positions which have come into play as a result of the pandemic.

“The organisation has made great strides across Ireland and we hope to expand further and help mitigate the risks businesses face in security, health and safety as 2022 continues.”

Shane Henry: Recruiting additional staff.

Reconnaissance Group plans to recruit the additional staff within the next six months, with the roles predominantly in security and compliance for VIP and high-level clients and organisations. 

The increase in Covid-19 compliance laws has ensured the necessity of all parties abiding by health and safety guidelines.

Since the organisation was first established in 2006, it has provided security and risk management services to customers worldwide, including hotel groups, data storage facilities, NGOs, and telecommunications companies.

Comprising over 1,600 employees spread across the globe, the Reconnaissance Group is constructed through three main pillars: security risk management; business continuity; and training. These core services include personal security, logistics and fleet/asset management, offices, residence security, network security, and infrastructure.

Like any other company, we’ve had to adapt over the past two years to the context we found ourselves operating in.

“We put our heads together very early in the pandemic to come up with strategies and innovative ways to adapt our business model," says Shane. "In fact, that has worked out very well in allowing us look beyond the security and protective services that we do.

“We’ve branched into areas of organisational resilience and working with companies to help prepare their teams to better weather events that occur — be they natural disasters, pandemics or security issues that firms find themselves facing.

"The fact that we have 15 years experience operating in some of the world’s more challenging business environments gives us a unique leverage in terms of what we can provide.”

Background

Founded in 2006, the company is headquartered in Dublin, with sister offices in New York and Haiti. 

Prior to establishing Reconnaissance Group, Shane was as a Non Commissioned Officer in the Irish Defence Forces, serving in Lebanon and Liberia. He travelled to Haiti in 2006 and began a new chapter with the founding of the company. 

He has a Degree in Security & Risk Management from the University of Leicester, a Certificate in Crisis Management, Diploma in Business Continuity with London’s Business Continuity Institute, and is currently completing a Masters in Organisational Resilience.

Drawing on its extensive expertise, the Reconnaissance Group continues to provide specialised security services to a portfolio of global clients, operating across a variety of challenging landscapes, overcoming historic operational and economic hurdles.

“Since its inception, we have envisioned Reconnaissance Group as an industry leader offering specialised solutions to clients,” Shane says.

In the recent PWC Annual CEO Survey, 59% of Irish business leaders cited extreme concern about the threat of pandemics and other health crises.

Additionally, the survey also found that 90% of Irish business leaders are planning to reassess their organisation’s tolerance for risk as a result of the Covid-19 crisis.

Threat of cybercrime

“Cybercrime is a threat to individuals, never mind organisations,” Shane says. 

“And now, with home working having become such a crucial part of many businesses, it has become an area of concern that organisations did not previously have to address. 

"It is an area that we are involved in, and working with companies to define their policies in relation to this.”

Cyber threats evolve on a daily basis.

Given that cyber threats evolve on a daily basis, both for companies and government institutions, Ireland’s open economy brings its own challenges: “There is a huge requirement in Ireland to cope with these constantly emerging threats, and we have done very well in assembling a team of diverse talents dedicated to this area. This has allowed us to expand, as well as identifying new areas for growth into the future.”

Shane credits his time with the Irish Defence Forces as being responsible for key aspects of the Reconnaissance Group operational ethos: “I joined the Irish Army in 1999 and have had tremendous experiences from that, including travelling with the UN to Lebanon and Liberia, both of which shaped my own view of the world at a young age.

The Irish Defence Forces have left a very deep imprint on who I am today, and gave me values which apply across a wide spectrum.

He says the personal growth he experienced in the army has informed much of his educational and business life.

“It instilled in me a desire to extend myself into a life of continual growth and to constantly extend who I am and what I‘m capable of,” he says. 

“The Defence Forces instilled a tremendous set of values and a moral compass developed at a very young age. My time there has been central to the subsequent success of both my personal and professional life and an experience that continues to guide me in so many ways.”