WhoisMarkEdwards?

could always fall back on. I went for an interview as a trainee spray painter but unfortunately the job had already been lined up for the managers nephew, however my details were passed onto the manager in the sheet metal workshop and so I began my working career as a trainee sheet metal worker.

After a couple of years enjoying working Monday to Friday to pay for nights out, cars and enjoying myself mixing with the wrong company - but a huge change was looming on the horizon!

or four times and welcomed second daughter “Ellie”, It was at this point I started to become bored working in the same factory. So, I applied for a job as a mobile patrol officer for a small security company based in Bognor Regis called Southern Security Group (SSG), thinking this would do while I looked for something else.

“He’s the Senior Operations Manager, isn’t he?”

I was born in a town called Hitchin in Hertfordshire in the early 70s, my Dad had a painting and decorating company and my Mum was an estate agent . I grew up on a brand-new council estate, where many of my close friends live to this day.

The first school that I attended was Purwell Junior School. I was an average student who enjoyed most lessons and eventually moved on to Highfield Secondary School. This is where things really changed for me. I became disruptive in lessons and would play truant as often as possible as I no longer enjoyed the lessons or the learning. One teacher asked at the start of a term if there was anyone who wasn't interested in learning? During my time at secondary school, I was suspended on a number occasions before being asked to leave school just before my 15th birthday in those days it was call expulsion.

I didn't have to go to school, I thought that I was really cleaver but my Dad took me to work with him to keep me out of further trouble. My Dad had just won the contracts for four new housing developments in an upand-coming town known today as Milton Keynes. Working on building sites at the age of 15 taught me life skills that you could never learn in school, although in hindsight I should have been made to continue with my education as I do not have one GCSE to my name.

When I reached the age of 16, the then legal age for leaving school my Dad asked me if I wanted to join the company as a full-time employee? My answer to this was “I don't want to be a painter and decorator for the rest of my life”. He then told me to get myself a trade as this would be something I

The girlfriend of one of my friends introduced me to a young lady called Nicki who was 17 years old living in Bognor Regis, we hit it off straight away and Nicki came up to stay in Hertfordshire for a few weeks. We saw each other every day and I even reverted back to my old school days of taking days off to spend time with her, everything was going great until she told me she had fallen pregnant, BIG SHOCK! The next few conversations were with family, and these couldn’t have gone any worse, so at the age of 18 I resigned from my job, packed up a suitcase, picked up my portable telly and drove away from family and friends to Bognor Regis to start a new chapter in my life with close family telling me I had ruined my life and that I would be back home in 6 months.

Arriving in Bognor Regis, I didn't know anyone except Nicki and her Mum, who had agreed to let us stay with her in her one bedroom flat until such time as we had found somewhere to live. The following day, I walked into a sheet metal company and asked if there was any work? This was the 1990s and the country was going through a recession, the owner gave me temporary work but couldn't guarantee how long it would last, I actually worked for the same company for 11 years becoming like fully skilled sheet metal worker.

In June 1991 Nikki and I welcomed a baby girl “Hannah” into our lives, Nicki was a month from her 18th Birthday, and I was not quite 20 years old, we were children having children with no money to our name. So to make ends meet I continue to work Monday to Friday in the factory while Nicki worked Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights in a nursing home. So, while my friends were out enjoying the weekends, I was at home changing nappies.

In the following years we moved home three

This was my first taste of security, I only lasted as a Patrol Driver for three months before being given the opportunity to become a Controller. I quickly moved up the ranks to become the Senior Controller on shift. The Company was then sold and I TUPED to Emprise Services where I was recognised for my work ethics and quickly became the Control Room Manager, even dipping my toes into the financial side of the business before becoming an Operations Manager.

In 2013 the exciting opportunity to be part of the Manned Guarding Division for AP Security (APS) Ltd arose and I was lucky enough to be able to bring a number of staff along for the ride.

In May 2018, I suffered a heart attack, resulting in an emergency stent until I was able to be moved for a double heart by-pass operation. After 4 months of recuperation, I was able to return to work and have since been an avid Gym member, concentrating on my cardio workouts 4 to 5 times a week.

In the last couple of years I have celebrated both turning 50 years of age and being married to Nicki for 25 years (Silver Wedding Anniversary).

I am happy to say that my journey in life this far has had its ups and downs but if you put your mind to it, nothing is unachievable even for a boy from Hertfordshire who started out with no qualifications who now manages a portfolio of work including blue-chip companies and numerous staff and is achieving qualifications in the workplace.

So, the next time someone asks, “do you know Mark Edwards” the answer is “Yes, I do”.

And yes, we do! - From the Team at AP Manned Guarding.