Jonathan Bairam, Divisional Managing Director for andwis Entrance and Access Technology Division talks to SJUK about the 2022 acquisition of Meesons, the formation of andwis.group and what customers can expect in the future.

Initially founded in 1864 as a cutlery and penknives business in Sheffield, Meesons will celebrate its 160 years in business next year.

It was in the 1980s that the company transitioned from retail to business-to-business operations, supplying locks and access control products to high street banks. The partnership with the Italian family owned Alluser Industrie started in 1998 is when the first vision of becoming a physical security expert within the high-security industry began. In 2002 we pivoted to anti-tailgating and entrance control exclusively.

Since then, Meesons has been providing a wide range of products and services to help businesses and organisations control access whilst protecting people, places, and assets.

Meesons was acquired by HIG Capital in 2023 and are one of four founding companies that make up the andwis. group of technical services specialists in the UK. What initiated this?

Having rebuilt the business over the last 15 years, the previous owner, Jeremey Terry (who took over the business from his parents), wanted to disrupt the established physical pedestrian security market, by proving high security, high quality, flexible solutions to niche sectors like government and fitness world.  This really took off over the last 4 years, and despite the economic challenges we all faced in recent times, the team here at Meesons remained committed, we again pivoted a large portion of our efforts, this time into the data centre sector, which during the pandemic was flourishing.

Jeremey decided it was time for him to step away from the business, but not wanting to stifle the team or potential we decided to select our new owners, who have aligned values and goals.

We now make up one of the five founding businesses of the andwis group. collectively offering technical services ranging from Lifts (Classic Lifts), M&E (CPS), HVAC (Synecore), Fire & Security (ACE Fire & Security) and Entrance & Access Technology (Meesons).

We are all super excited about this chapter, with the support from HIG Capital, as well as our broad range of colleagues in both andwis and our sister companies, we’ve seen a huge improvement and potential already in only a few months.

Tell us about the products and services you provided pre-acquisition?

Before our acquisition and ongoing, we provide customers with accredited and third party approved, high and medium security entrance products, including security portals, security revolving doors, and speed gates.

We’ve built up years of experience and expertise in the data centre, critical national infrastructure, higher education, banking and finance, and leisure sectors.

We also offer a range of service and maintenance options, which complement our ‘relationship’ approach to doing business.  We are in it for the long term with our clients, some of whom we’ve been serving for over 20 years.

From an operational and/or customer perspective, how has the business changed since?

Since joining the andwis family we have opened new businesses in France (service the EU zone) and Dubai (service the GCC) as well as expanded our domestic team.

We have introduced new product lines, most noticeably the LPS1175 Issue 8 C5 (SR3) revolving door as well as a range of more standard entrance façade products including security rated automatic and revolving doors.

We are growing both organically and via merger and acquisitions, and we’ll be explaining our product, service, and geographic offerings in the very near future…. watch this space!

How do you hope this acquisition will enable you to continue to innovate and develop your products and services while benefiting from the expertise and resources of the andwis group in the months and years ahead?

Our brands operate independently but combine to enhance value and maximise potential with a unified and integrated strategy.

We’ll offer a variety of solutions for different access and entrance needs, including portals, security gates, automatic entrance products, hostile vehicle mitigation (HVM), ballistic rated products, and attack-resistant doors and screens.

Whilst we don’t manufacture ourselves, we do work exclusively with world-class manufacturing partners to provide only the best and most appropriate solutions.

Being part of andwis gives us flexibility and freedom to create new relationships, bring innovation to existing and new markets, whilst employing our expertise and special skills in the best way.

How will existing Meesons customers benefit?

We can now offer faster and more diverse services to a broader range of clients across the UK, EU and GCC as well as some more global accounts.

We have our own teams on the ground, ready to engage with clients and respond to their needs in person.  The next steps for us, are to offer industry changing service levels, that mean we are the go-to for any business needing security to work, as designed, when needed at the right time.  Security is something you don’t need…until you do!

As part of our evolution from a local to a global business we’ve recently updated our brand; the team came together to determine what and who we are now, as part of andwis but also in our own right. We have a collective vision of where we are going, with a roadmap and schedule, and the new branding helps us communicate this both internally and externally to the market, as well as helping to show how we’ve developed as a team and a solution provider.

Has the acquisition brought you newer customers and/or opened new markets?

Whilst our key sectors remain unchanged from government, data centres, leisure, education and banking, we have been seeing lots of opportunities to work with our andwis family to expand and support each other’s offerings.

We have many common clients and now we all have similar values and a joined-up approach we can ensure that we can enhance the customer experience together.

We got the teams together only this week to connect and discuss, how we can improve our customer journey and experience for mutual benefits, this is the start of something big!

Tell us something readers might not know about Meesons.

Something people may not know about Meesons is that in partnership with Alluser Indsutrie, we have created the market for high security portals, also now high security revolving doors and soon…….

We released the first ever LPS 1175 issue 8 C5 (SR3) Certified revolving door, the LPS Security Portals were the first to achieve LPS 1175: Issue 8 across an extended range (More than 15 products), and the C190 security portal was the very first to resist manual forced entry to LPS 1175 standards.

We’re extremely proud to have such significant partnerships and products, and that we can continue to develop them in an ever-evolving market and requirements. Such partnerships and relationships are key to our success and future.

More UK Security News