Security company with $20 million turnover collapses for second time

A security company with annual turnover of $20 million has collapsed for the second time.

Sargent Security, founded in 1998, slipped into receivership for an 11-day period in January this year and was forced to shut down its NSW operations, Fairfax Media reported in February.

This month the company entered administration, with Deloitte’s Neil Robert Cussen and Ezio Marco Senatore appointed administrators on June 5.

A meeting of creditors is due to be held in Sydney on June 18.

The company, which had offices in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Canberra, is now advertising all its business assets, contracts, goodwill and intellectual property.

Sargent Security’s high profile clients include Hungry Jacks, Hugo Boss, Aldi, The Good Guys and Chemist Warehouse, as well as contracts with the Queensland and NSW governments.

In 2012, the company won a contract with the NSW Department of Education and Training to provide 24-hour alarm response and after-hour patrols across 935 Sydney public schools, according to Fairfax. This ceased when the company’s licence was revoked after it had been placed under external control in February.

Fairfax also reported the firm had been the subject of a police probe that uncovered a host of alleged workplace breaches, including the hiring of unlicensed guards and off-the-book cash payments totalling hundreds of thousands of dollars.

On its website, the company’s chief executive Ben Robert said in his mission statement, “I marvel at the level of vision, expertise and skills my team possess, which in turn brings an optimism and tenacity to the management team, and promotes an influx of more ideas and passion”.

“All this will ensure Sargent Security is led into the future, continuing to make the business stronger and more resilient in a world of rapid change,” he said.

SmartCompany contacted Deloitte, but did not receive a response prior to publication. Sargent Security was also contacted, but SmartCompany was told no one was available for media comment.