A veteran of the Sri Lankan Air Force and Director / CEO at AB Securitas, Pradeep Kannangara has brought revolutionary change to the security sector in Sri Lanka.
A past pupil of Ananda College who chose the Math stream for his Advanced Level joined the Sri Lankan Air Force as an Officer Cadet who then went to grow within. “Joined the Sri Lanka Air Force as an Officer Cadet in 1986. Graduated as a Commissioned Officer in the Pilot Officer rank from the Sri Lanka Air Force Academy, China Bay in 1988,” said Pradeep.
During the period of 14 years where he served in the Air Force, he was trained and qualified in Intelligence, Special Air Borne Operations, Counter Revolutionary Warfare, Bomb Disposal, and Combat Parachuting from the Sri Lanka Army Commando Regiment, VVIP Security from Special Task Force. Pradeep served several stints across various SLAF Bases holding varied appointments including the North and the East from being the Officer Commanding Special Airborne Force and finally retired as a Wing Commander. He was appreciated and awarded the Rana Sura Padakkam (RSP) Presidential Gallantry Award in 1996 for bravery exhibited on the battlefront.
Pradeep joined Absec which was a subsidiary of Abans Group of Companies in the year 1998 and has been his entry into the security sector, “In 1998 joined the then Absec a security company under Abans Group of Companies as the Operations Manager. At the time of joining, it was 4 years old and was with mere 60 security officers.” Absec was focused on providing basic static security services for the clients with an annual turnover of a bare minimum of Rs 1.2 million.
The company then took the initiative to plan for a revolutionized change needed to face the competitors, “Absec was nowhere in the top 100 companies nor could dream about it when compared to the multifaceted competitors some with foreign collaboration. We took a firm decision that a revolutionary change would be made to revamp the organization and bring it to the top 10 in five years.”
At the initial stage, the existing 60 employees were trained continuously to turn them into highly trained professional security officers. The training and development processes made sure to keep up the quality of their services and brought forth new opportunities to showcase their talent to high-end clients. During this time, they too initiatives to bring brand awareness to Absec through printed and electronic media. “Initially, small advertisements followed by distributing leaflets. Had a few opportunities to conduct a TV program with available staff in a famous TV show. Road Shows were conducted in a few Colombo suburbs depicting the Special Task Group Officers known as STGOs elite security personnel highly trained in explosive detection, unarmed combat, armed with Handheld Radio units, etc. with an amazing attire suited to their physique,” said Pradeep.
“The demand for STGOs grew day by day. AB Securitas today boasts over 4800 professional security officers across the width and breadth of the country with major Banks, multinational giants, large conglomerates, and high-end manufacturing clients under its belt,” Pradeep mentions with a hint of pride towards the company. The early stages have too many barriers to trade in the licensed weapon procurement aspect due to the Ministry of Defence’s strict policies on issues of weapons, “The Ministry of Defence was extremely strict on issuing weapons mainly due to the prevailing terrorist activities in the country. The tireless efforts succeeded in six months when the first single barrel basic two-shot guns were issued.”
This helped the company to provide security services to many clients which have made lasting impressions to create loyalty to the brand. “It is magnificent that we still conducting the same since 1999 counting 23 years of continuity which proves the Customer Care mentality, we instilled in our employees with high-quality service,” said Pradeep.
This was a turning point for Absec as they were able to secure an agreement with a bank to commence the Cash-In-Transit services. At the initial stage of entry into the CIT services, Absec had to compete with multinational CITs like Group 4 / Falcon and Certis. They faced criticism from the companies that had a stronger foothold in the Sri Lankan market yet they thrived in the face of it and succeeded, “Tenacity and endurance ultimately succeeded in securing the first major CIT with a leading private
Bank in Sri Lanka in the latter part of the year 1999.” The success streak of Absec spanned a variety of security services and proved their worth to the market, “The sheer dedication of the management and the staff saw slowly but steadily Absec consolidating its position in the CIT where now its history by becoming the Number One CIT Company in Sri Lanka.
It was our tireless efforts to be the number one Total Loss Prevention Solution Provider in Sri Lanka, that initiated the introduction of the Electronic Security Division (ESD), Maritime Security Division (MSD), Remote CCTV & Alarm Monitoring with Quick Response Teams (QRT), Diplomatic Security Division and Sniffer Dogs (K-Nine) as Strategic Business Units (SBU).”
In the year 2003, Absec rebranded itself as AB Securitas (Private) Limited and revolutionized the industry with innovative and novel concepts and processes. “AB Securitas transformed the traditional basic CIT operations in Sri Lanka to present Total Cash & ATM Management services on par with counterparts in the US, European, and East Asian Countries.
As of now, AB Securitas operates four fully-fledged Cash Management Centres with cutting-edge technology, fully automated cash processing machines providing Cash Warehousing, Processing, Central Bank Deposits, and Withdrawals, Coin and Payroll Management, Total ATM Management with Cash Replenishment, Balancing, FLM & SLM, Status Monitoring, etc., Customer Collections and Online Reporting, Cash On Wheel (CoW) services and Post Dated Cheque Management services to all most all private local and foreign banks in Sri Lanka,” Pradeep stated.
For the first time in the annals of Self Service Device (SSD) history in Sri Lanka AB Securitas introduced Brown Label SSD Solutions in Sri Lanka where the SSD and Centre inventory owned by AB Securitas with an end-to-end solution. AB Securitas sailed to heights by guiding the company to win the National Quality Award under the Large-Scale Service Category conducted by the Sri Lanka Standard Institute (SLSI) in 2015 followed by winning Asia Pacific Quality Award, Global Business Excellence Award, etc.
AB Securitas has the pride of being the first and only loss prevention Sri Lankan entity to spread its wings overseas by inaugurating AB Securitas Bangladesh Private Limited in 2012 and by 2022 to have its solely owned three subsidiaries, namely DOK Solution Private Limited, ABS Courier Private Limited and the AB Cash Management Services Private Limited with an Annual Turnover over Rs. 3.5 billion.
Most companies do have core values that provide support for the vision of the company. AB Securitas (Pvt) Ltd gives prominence to Innovation and Acquiring the latest technology to stay ahead of the curve. They strive to benchmark with global players in CIT and Total Cash Management Solutions. Pradeep states that AB Securitas maintains professionalism in static security, provides One-Stop Loss Prevention Solutions to potential customers, and Continuous Change Management and Sound Business Continuity Plan which is a key aspect of Cash solutions.
The pandemic affected the company severely unlike the industries that could adapt to work from home initiatives, “Being a crucial service provider where AB Securitas could not leave a single customer location where it provided total security coverage in the total absence of the client’s staff. Similarly, it is a common fact that in a crisis situation the demand for hard cash through the SelfService Devices and Bank Branch Networks rises significantly when panic hit customers withdrawing cash to purchase / stockpile essentials.
Despite all restrictions enforced by Law enforcement authorities curtailing travel and health authorities strictly restricting the workforce, AB Securitas managed to keep all the services intact thanks to its well-rehearsed and documented Business Continuity Plan.” The BCP helped the company overcome the challenges that posed even after the situation resembled some normalcy before the economic crisis struck, “The sound BCP helped tremendously to overcome the situation with timely and right decision-making on the countermeasures.
For a basic example when the total transport system collapsed AB Securitas managed its fuel requirement thanks to the fuel stocks always maintained to overcome fuel shortages due to labour unrest in the Petroleum sector over a period of time. A quick and right analysis made AB Securitas initiate its owned fuel storage tank with dispensers to be self-sufficient in fuel for its CIT fleet.”
Pradeep has gained recognition in the security industry and is the current President of the Industrial Security Foundation (ISF Inc., Sri Lanka) the sole organization representing the industry established by an Act in Parliament in 1999 and representing the Sri Lanka Security Service Providers’ Association (SLASSPA) as a Founder Member. Furthermore, he is an Executive Committee Member continuously since its inception for the last 18 years and is the present Senior Vice President of SLASSPA.
In addition, AB Securitas is a Corporate Member in both organizations and holds a Membership plus Co-Vice Presidency in the Asian Cash Management Association incorporated in Hong Kong since the year 2015. Pradeep faces challenges in the security industry as the entry to trade barriers are quite low in Sri Lanka and that in turn is a cause for the establishment of mushroom companies that raise the competitiveness in the market.
On a concluding note, Pradeep had some words of wisdom that he wants to share with the management of organizations, “Opportunities are plenty as well as challenges, it is only the right leadership can steer an organization overcoming challenges diligently and swiftly to achieve the ultimate goal.”