Anchor was established by Andrew Harper, Chief Executive, in 1987. A former Merseyside police officer, he started his own private security service where he lived on the Wirral – with a mobile phone, a dog and a van.


Burglaries were on the rise on the Wirral (a reported 44% increase on the previous year) and householders were suffering twice the average number of burglaries in Merseyside. 

Andrew had a look at the American idea of neighborhood watch patrols and believed it would work on home soil too and so with that, Anchor Security was born.


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1987
Company was founded

Andrew Harper left his job with Merseyside Police and started his own business with a mobile phone, a dog and a van. He began patrolling an increasingly burgled area on the Wirral using the skills he acquired during the six years he served as a police officer.

  Also in this year; £1 million Operation Deepscan in Loch Ness fails to locate the legendary Loch Ness Monster.
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1990
Anchor became a Limited Company

Following the success of Andrew’s start-up, Anchor became a limited company with commercial properties now on the books.

  During 1990; Nelson Mandela was released from Victor Verster Prison, near Cape Town, South Africa, after 27 years behind bars
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1993
Steady growth

Growth hits £2m as word catches on in neighbouring counties.

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  Other 1993 related news; a false start forces the Grand National to be cancelled.
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1997
Commercial Director appointed

Lorraine Hiles appointed as Anchor’s Commercial Director

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  Also in 1997; the publication of J. K. Rowling's first Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
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2001
Continued growth

Turnover hits £5m

  In this year, Windows released Windows XP
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2003
Cleaning division launched

​After 19 years of solely providing security services to a variety of industry sectors, it was time to diversify. Anchor’s Cleaning division was launched.

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  In Oct 2003 Supersonic aircraft Concorde makes its final commercial flights after 27 years
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2007
Parking division launched

Anchor Security Guards faced increasing conflict at shopping centres where parking had become problematic and even dangerous at times, especially during peak trading. Clients turned to Anchor for a solution which had the capacity to deal with the technicalities of Parking on Private Land, but also offered exemplary levels of customer service.

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  Also in 2007, Apple introduces the iPhone to the world.
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2009
Turnover reaches £10m

Turnover hits £10m

  2009 also experienced the longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century, lasting up to 6 minutes and 38.8 seconds, occuring over parts of Asia and the Pacific Ocean
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2011
Care Property launched

Having successfully branched out into several different areas within facilities management, the next move enabled Anchor Group Services to become the ‘provider of choice’ when looking to appoint a company to deliver; Security, Cleaning, Car Park Management and now Reactive and Planned Property Maintenance – via the Care Property team.

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  Also in 2011 - an estimated two billion people watched the wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey in London.
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2014
Anchor reaches academy status offering all employees the opportunity to gain workplace qualifications.

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  2014's Frozen became the highest grossing animated movie of all time. We couldn't Let it go!
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2020
Technical Services Division Launched

​Maximising the technical capacity of the Anchor Operations Centre, CCTV monitoring, installation and maintenance and a host of other 24 hour support services were developed.

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2022
Consultancy Division Launched

Expert advice to asset owners on security systems and processes, business continuity, risk management and threat analysis, delivered globally by subject matter experts.

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TODAY

Continuing to diversify, with over 1000 staff, our plan for the future is to be inquisitive, challenge the norm, and lead the way within our sector.






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