“Sharp Group just became the first Irish fire and security company to gain the ISO 27001 standard, which deals with information security management” said Mr Ivan Nolan, Managing Director at Sharp Group.
“ISO 27001 may only be relevant to about one per cent of the industry, but it allows us to operate at the highest levels of data centre and information security, where it is an absolute requirement.
“We are driven by PLCs, which means that we are constantly audited to the highest international standards – far above the industry mean. For example, we have also just achieved ISO 14001 (Environmental Management) and ISO 450001 (Occupational Health).
“Our competitors in Ireland are three internationally-based PLCs – we play to our strengths, which is our experience on the ground.
“We employ a high calibre of qualified staff and reward them accordingly. Our average technician has been with us for 14 years which means that we have a high level of retained knowledge.
“We have also been to the fore in actively recruiting and training women, which although it should be a given, has not always been the case in the security industry.
“We are very selective about the contracts that we take on, aiming to grow steadily by 8% per year.
“We have invested in Ireland’s most technically advanced control rooms, monitoring systems and security communications.
“This gives us amazing off-site automation whether it is leak detection in high-end pharmaceutical facilities, dispensing petrol, monitoring temperatures in trucks’ freezer units overnight or being notified if a UPS drops off in a hospital or clinic.
“We have worked on security projects at oil rigs with Yokogawa and on the Scotland Northern Ireland gas pipeline.”