Key Holding & Alarm Response

24/7, Licensed, Ready When You Need Us

Key Holding and Alarm Response Across The UK

When your alarm activates at two in the morning, someone needs to respond. That person should be a trained, SIA-licensed security officer. Not you. Not a member of your staff.

Defence Security Solutions provides key holding and alarm response services across the United Kingdom. We hold your keys securely. We respond to activations at any hour. We investigate, secure your premises and report back to you.

Our operations are managed from our London base. We deploy response officers to sites across the full UK.

Nationwide Coverage

Providing trusted security services across the UK with reliable protection, rapid response, and professional support for businesses, sites, properties, and events nationwide.

Skilled Security Teams

Experienced security professionals providing reliable solutions for corporate, retail, construction, event, and mobile patrol security services throughout the UK.

24/7 Availability

Delivering dependable security services day and night through trained local teams, fast deployment, and professional support tailored to your requirements.

Licensed & Accredited

Fully trained and SIA-licensed security professionals delivering trusted, compliant, and high-quality security services with a strong commitment to client safety.

What is a Key Holding Service?

A key holding service means a licensed security company holds your premises keys on your behalf. When your alarm activates out of hours, we send a response officer to your site.

The officer investigates the activation. They secure the premises. They provide a written report of what was found. You receive it the same day.

This removes the personal risk and inconvenience of out-of-hours alarm response from you and your team entirely.

Why Businesses Trust Defence Security Solutions

We hold SIA ACS status under reference DESESOSC02. This was independently assessed across 78 areas of business performance. Fewer than a third of UK security companies achieve this standard.

Twelve years of experience. Over 900 trained officers. A 98 per cent client retention rate. Every officer vetted to BS 7858. A named account manager for every contract.

We are based in Greater London and operate across the full UK. From Central Scotland to the South Coast, we deploy licensed personnel to sites of every type and size.

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Delivering the highest level of security services in both the public and private sectors with holistic, competitive, solutions.

How Do Defecnce security Solutions Store your Keys?

We store client keys in a locked, controlled environment. Keys are held separately from any information that could link them to a specific address.

Keys are logged in and out with a full audit trail. This approach aligns with the British Standard for key holding. It protects your premises from the risk of keys being compromised.

Sectors We Serve

Key Holding and Alarm Response Services We Provide

Out-of-Hours Alarm Response

Our primary key holding service covers out-of-hours alarm response for commercial premises. Whether your alarm activates at midnight or five in the morning, a licensed officer will attend your site.

Lock and Unlock Service

Lock and unlock service removes the daily responsibility of opening and securing premises from your staff. An officer attends at agreed times each morning and evening.

Vacant Property Security

Empty premises are a significant target for squatters, thieves and arsonists. Our vacant property service combines key holding with regular patrol visits. Officers check the condition and security of the building, identify any signs of unauthorised entry and report back to you.

What Happens When Our Alarm Activates?

When we receive notification of an activation, we despatch the nearest available SIA-licensed response officer to your site. On arrival, the officer conducts a full external and internal patrol.

They identify the cause of the activation. They document their findings. If the activation indicates a break-in or security breach, they contact the police, stay on site until officers attend and arrange for the premises to be secured.

You receive a full written report of every attendance.

Areas We Cover Key Holding

We provide key holding and alarm response services across the United Kingdom. We cover commercial premises, retail sites, industrial facilities and residential properties in cities and towns nationwide.

Our response network is coordinated from our London headquarters. We maintain coverage across all UK regions.

Frequently Asked Questions

There is no general legal requirement for businesses to use a professional key holding service. But many insurance policies require it as a condition of cover.

If your premises has an alarm system connected to a receiving centre, that centre may also require a key holder who can attend within a set time.

Many commercial insurance policies in the UK require a nominated key holder who can attend within a specified time of an alarm activation. Some policies require that key holder to be a professional security company.

We recommend checking your policy wording carefully. If your insurer requires a professional key holding service, we can provide written confirmation of our provision for insurance purposes.

Yes. We manage key holding for clients with multiple sites under a single contract. Each premises has its own set of keys, its own response instructions and its own reporting trail. Your account manager oversees all sites from one point of contact.

We need the premises address, emergency contact details, alarm code information and any specific instructions for your site. We also carry out a brief site assessment before the contract begins so our response officers know exactly what to expect when they attend.You said: We manage key holding for clients with multiple sites under a single contract.

Asking a staff member to attend a commercial premises alone at night creates a duty of care risk for your business. They are not trained to deal with what they might find.

They do not have the legal powers of an SIA-licensed officer. In the event of an incident, your business faces serious liability questions. A professional key holding service removes that risk entirely.

Response times depend on the location of your premises and the time of activation. We agree a target response time at the start of your contract.

We maintain a network of response officers across the UK to keep response times as short as possible. Every attendance is logged and reported.

What our
Client's Say

We take pride in delivering security services that businesses can trust. Here’s what some of our valued clients say about their experience working with HK Logistics Group Limited.

PROTECTING WHAT MATTERS

Delivering the highest level of security services in both the public and private sectors with holistic, competitive, solutions. Defence Security Solutions is a young ambitions company constantly striving through performance excellence to become one of the nation’s leading full-service companies in the industry offering a variety of professionally, skillfully and discreetly managed programs, solutions and services for individuals, companies, facilities and organisations.