business focus
25 years of
success
Group 5’s 24 hr control room
Security guard on duty
Safety deposit boxes
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As superintendent in the Royal Gibraltar Police, Hector Payas had a great career cut out for himself, so it came as quite a surprise to his colleagues and superiors when he decided to take a leaf out of Sinatra’s book and “do it my way” as he aptly puts it.
That was back in the early ’80s, and this month, Group 5 is celebrating its 25th anniversary — a company which Hector set up in 1984. Initially on his own, sharing an office and secretary with a friend in rented accommodation on Irish Town, the business has grown over the years to incorporate just over 50 employees. “I remember when I employed my first security guard,” said Hector thoughtfully. “Early on, I was approached by Galliano Bank which has now been taken over by Jyske Bank, to handle some of the secure transport. After that I was asked to take on Bailiff duties by the court. It all snowballed after that.” Hector makes no bones about the reputation he has in Gibraltar as being a hard handed person with a hard handed business, so I was quite surprised by the relaxed and quite jovial atmosphere in the office, both from him and his staff. “There’s no point in letting life get you down, and I always try to see the humorous side of things,” Hector pointed out. “Although work is work and it has to be done, all our staff work hard and enjoy it too. Many companies have a hands on boss, but I like to think I’m a hands and feet on boss.” He chuckled as he lent back and placed his boots on the table to demonstrate the fact. To be fair Hector and his staff
have worked hard over the last 25 years to take the business to where it is today. Still offering the original services of detective work and cashin-transit, the company moved to Leon House in the early ’90s where it now offers, amongst other things, a 24 hour manned control room adjoining a large two floor security deposit room at their head quarters in Leon House — the only one in Gibraltar — which also deals with installation of burglar alarms, fire alarms, panic buttons, CCTV systems, door entry systems and traffic barriers which are all hooked up to their central control room. They always have a roaming guard on patrol and any incident is relayed directly to him from the control room, and Group 5 is always promptly on the scene. By the very nature of the business, the Group 5 team find themselves regularly dealing with people with problems and they do try to help clients rather than lay down the law, often through their loans department which can step in to offer a solution. “Our debt collection department doesn’t immediately repossess property from defaulting persons if payments are overdue and, in many cases, even when there’s a court order in place,” Hector explained. “We invite the person involved to come in and talk to us first and we try to find out what the
“Many companies have a hands on boss, but I like to think I’m a hands and feet on boss.” GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE • MAY 2009