Control Risks Group

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Control Risks Group, based out of London, was founded in 1975 by Timothy Royle, CEO of the Hogg Robinson insurance and travel group as a subsidiary of Hogg Robinson, it became the first company to provide advice to clients involved in kidnap situations. The company began with the hiring of three SAS officers: Maj. David Walker, Arish Turle, and Simon Adamsdale. Walker would go on to co-found Saladin Security and Keenie Meenie Services of Iran/Contra notoriety. Turle would go on to co-found the Risk Advisory Group after a stint at Kroll, Inc.'s office in London.[1] [2]

In 1981, five members of the management team led by Royle, negotiated a buyout of the company and became an independent employee majority-owned company. Currently, the company is 82% owned by its employees. In 1995, CRG added an investigative division, and by 2003 they had become an international company with more than 600 employees and 18 offices around the world [3].

CRG's four main operating areas are: Political and security risk analysis, confidential investigations, security consultancy, and crisis response. The majority of their clients are large multi-nationals; they state that more than 90 per cent of the FTSE 100 use one or more of their services [4].

CRG has a long history of working with the energy sector, covering ground in Algeria, Angola, Congo, Nigeria, Russia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Dubai, Sudan and Yemen. The main services they provide include political and security risk assessments, supplying site security managers for dangerous projects and kidnap and evacuation consultancy [5]. In Iraq the UK Department for International Development (DfID) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) have used CRG to provide armed guards for staff in Baghdad, Basra and elsewhere.

Contents

[edit] Clients and advice

  • CRG has joined with the Energy Industries Council, the largest Trade Association for British companies that service the world's energy industries [7]
  • CRG prepared a War, Terrorism and Political Violence briefing released by Hiscox Syndicates in October of 2004. The briefing examines the trouble regions around the world, recent acts of violence, and assessments for the near future.
  • July 30, 2004, CRG announces the release of their new travel product CRTravelTracker. This online product will allow companies to locate and advise their employees around the world through consolidating all their travel information and integrating it with all the relevant information pertaining to the region they are visiting. [8][9]
  • In 1992, CRG warned their client Unocal regarding their project in Burma that the government "habitually makes use of forced labor to construct roads" and concluded that Unocal and its partners would have "little freedom of manoeuvre." [10]

[edit] Current Directors and Officers

  • Jonathan Fry: Chairman
  • Nigel Churton: Vice-Chairman
  • Richard Fenning: Chief Executive Officer
  • Michael Martin: Chief Financial Officer
  • Alison Crosland: Director Information Services
  • Eric Westropp: Board Director
  • John Conyngham: Global director of investigations [11] [12]
  • Mike Horner: Director Asia-Pacific [13]
  • Robin Baillie: Non-executive Director [14]pdf
  • Christopher Kemball: Non-executive Director [15]
  • Sir Michael Rose (former SAS commander): Non-executive Director [16][17]
  • Jim Drinkhall: Associate Director of Investigations [18]

[edit] Other employees

  • Kevin Rosser - terrorism analyst as at January 2004 [19].

[edit] Further reading

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