Local firm AURA has been making international moves and now the company is looking to establish a stronger footing in the UK market.

AURA entered the UK market in 2021 and it has this week appointed Mike Isherwood as non-executive director of operations. The newly appointed director brings with him a wealth of experience in both security and policing.

“Although the UK’s crime landscape is different to that of South Africa from a personal risk profile perspective, the need for access to safety and security services are essentially the same. The bigger the city, such as London, Manchester or Glasgow, the closer the needs are to the South African security market as a whole,” Isherwood explained in a statement.

One of the issues in the UK Isherwood highlights is the fact that verification of alarms can be a costly and cumbersome exercise.

As such, many alarm receiving centres rely on grainy CCTV footage. Furthermore, police aren’t prone to responding to alarm calls that aren’t verified and if they receive an alert three times in a row they won’t respond at all.

“Private security companies are now picking up what used to be thought of as police work. AURA’s value proposition is exciting as it addresses the gap between police and private security companies and provides an inexpensive way to get a fast response to alarms and make sure people and property are protected. At the same time, it provides security companies with technology to enhance their capabilities and increase revenues while keeping people safe,” adds Isherwood.

AURA’s solution is primed to deal with gaps like this. The firm uses data from over 170 private security companies as well as AI to dispatch the closest responder. In South Africa this is incredibly valuable and it’s great to see AURA’s solution finding a home in the rest of the world.

AURA is available in South Africa, Kenya and the UK with the firm rapidly expanding into other parts of the world.