Evolution, the fire and security installer, marked its 20th year in business with a party for staff. They celebrated on board a New Orleans-style paddle steamer during the Henley Music Festival in July.
The company, which took on its first employee in October 1996, was an early adopter of digital CCTV and its first major project was upgrading the CCTV control room at Canary Wharf in London. The company now has almost 90 staff in offices in London, Birmingham, Dublin, and Edinburgh, where it recently opened larger premises. Richard Lambert, co-founder and Managing Director, said: “Several of the employees at the party have been with the business almost from the beginning, and some of our senior staff originally started at Evolution as trainees.”
Similarly, many of its original clients – including Statoil and the Daily Telegraph – are still active accounts. The installer also works for multinationals and internationally.
Richard believes that the biggest change over the last 20 years has been the migration towards IP: “All of our technicians are now IP trained and clients today are increasingly looking to move away from server-based installations to cloud and web-browser-based solutions.”
Among the firm’s more unusual projects has been wireless perimeter security detection for nine CPNI water treatment plants and reservoirs; as early detection of intrusion in the lead up to the 2012 Olympic Games.
Visit http://www.evolutionsecurity.co.uk.
