Europe’s new resilience requirements are creating a growing market for private security service providers. However, whilst risks and quality standards are increasingly being considered from a European perspective, the markets remain characterised by national differences. International groups such as Securitas face strong domestic providers in Germany, such as the KÖTTER Group. Competition is increasingly less about staff numbers alone – and more about the ability to integrate security, technology, data, cyber security and risk management into a robust security process

The protection of critical infrastructure is no longer exclusively a national responsibility. Electricity grids, telecommunications, transport, logistics, data centres and industrial supply chains transcend borders; disruptions do so too. The European Union has therefore created a framework – the CER Directive – designed to assess the resilience of critical facilities more systematically. Operators must implement appropriate technical, organisational and security-related measures. The Directive explicitly mentions the physical protection of facilities, perimeter surveillance, detection systems, access controls, and risk and crisis management.

Added to this is a security landscape in which cyber-attacks, sabotage, influence operations and physical threats are increasingly intertwined. In the European security strategy ‘ProtectEU’, the European Commission explicitly placed attacks on critical infrastructure within the context of growing hybrid threats and called for greater information sharing and closer cooperation between public and private sector actors by 2025.

Germany has transposed this European framework into national law through the KRITIS Framework Act. The Act was signed on 11 March 2026 and came into force on 17 March 2026. It supplements the regulation, which is more focused on information and cyber security, with cross-sectoral requirements for the physical resilience of critical facilities.

This is of considerable economic significance for private security companies. Regulation does not automatically create security, but it does generate demand for services that enable statutory and organisational requirements to be implemented in day-to-day operations. Alongside site security and guarding, risk analyses, security technology, control centres, perimeter security, access management, video analytics, crisis management, cybersecurity and business continuity are gaining in importance. This broadens the scope of the security remit – and, at the same time, the range of skills that a provider must master.

European risks meet national security markets

At first glance, Europe appears to have a powerful private security sector. The industry association CoESS cites around 45,000 private security companies, some two million security personnel and an annual turnover of more than 40 billion euros in Europe. Nevertheless, this has not resulted in a unified European security services market. Private security services are expressly excluded from the scope of the European Services Directive. Licensing, qualification requirements and the distinction between private and state security tasks continue to be regulated primarily at national level. CoESS itself points out that, despite shared fundamental principles, there are significant differences between Member States.

This is one of the distinctive features of the European market: whilst threat scenarios are becoming increasingly cross-border and standards are converging, the practical delivery of security services remains strongly characterised by national differences. For international groups, this opens up economies of scale, but at the same time requires a local presence. Technology and analytical methods can be developed centrally; however, staffing, pay structures, licences and operational responsibility remain largely tied to individual countries.

Securitas relies on scale, technology and intelligence

Securitas is a prime example of this model. In 2025, the Swedish group generated global turnover of 155.1 billion Swedish kronor, employed around 322,000 people and operated in 44 markets. The increasing shift away from traditional security services towards technology and integrated solutions is now also evident in the group’s figures: in 2025, ‘Technology and Solutions’ accounted for 34 per cent of total turnover.
Europe is a core market for Securitas. The Securitas Europe segment generated turnover of around 67.4 billion Swedish kronor in 2025 and employed some 111,000 people. Germany alone accounted for 20 per cent of the segment’s European turnover, making it the largest national market, ahead of France with 13 per cent and Sweden with 12 per cent. Austria and Switzerland also form part of the Group’s European network.
Consequently, the developments described by Securitas Germany take on significance beyond the German market. In an interview with the *Tagesspiegel*, Ralf Brümmer, Head of Securitas Germany, explains an intelligence-led security approach – “Intelligence-led Security” – in which technical systems, various data sources and human analysis are to be integrated. The aim is to identify risks as early as possible, before they develop into actual security incidents. In addition to incidents at individual sites, the situation assessment may also take into account geopolitical developments, local events or threats against employees.

The term is now no longer confined to German-language communications. In 2026, Securitas declared ‘Intelligence-led Security’ to be one of the three key priorities of its group strategy up to 2030. Alongside quality and innovation, this move towards more information-driven security management is set to become a key element of the company’s ongoing transformation.

International groups are expanding integrated models

Securitas is not alone in this development. G4S, now part of Allied Universal, employs more than 46,500 people in Europe according to its own figures and is represented in just under 20 European countries. The company is increasingly combining traditional security services with technical and professional services. The Spanish group Prosegur also illustrates the scale of international competition. In 2025, the group achieved record turnover of 4.93 billion euros, of which a good two billion euros came from Europe. In the first half of 2026, European revenue rose again by 4.1 per cent to 1.03 billion euros. The Prosegur Security division alone generated turnover of 2.604 billion euros in 2025 as a whole.
For multinational clients, the advantage of such groups is obvious. They can standardise parts of their security architecture across countries whilst relying on a single provider that delivers technology, control centres, personnel and risk management across multiple markets. For service providers, in turn, investments in platforms, analytical methods or technical solutions can be spread across a larger client base.
However, this does not mean that size automatically guarantees market power. Private security remains a labour-intensive and trust-based business that depends on knowledge of local regulations and robust operational structures. Germany, in particular, demonstrates how strongly large national providers can hold their own alongside international conglomerates.

Germany: a large market with a strong mid-tier

The German security sector is one of the most significant in Europe. The BDSW forecasts sector turnover of 14.75 billion euros for 2025; as at 31 December 2025, around 290,700 people were employed in the ‘Security and Surveillance Services’ and ‘Private Investigation Agencies’ economic sector. It is worth noting that employment has recently been virtually stagnant, even though turnover has continued to rise.

This trend points to a shift that is likely to become central to the sector’s economy. Given wage costs and a limited labour supply, growth cannot be generated in the long term solely by increasing staff numbers. The BDSW itself highlights the growing integration of people with surveillance and alarm systems. Technology is thus becoming more attractive not only for security reasons, but also as a response to the structurally labour-intensive business model.

At the same time, the market remains fragmented. According to Lünendonk, the 25 largest German security service providers generated a combined €5.628 billion in security-related turnover in 2025, representing around 40 per cent of the market volume excluding cash and valuables logistics. Even the market leader, Securitas Germany, accounts for just under nine per cent of the total market with a turnover of €1.239 billion.

Securitas is followed by a number of major German providers. KÖTTER achieved turnover of 659 million euros in the security segment in 2025, an increase of 8.6 per cent. According to Lünendonk’s estimates, the Kiel-based security firm, including Sicherheit Nord, recorded 558 million euros, whilst the Lower Saxony-based security firm, together with VSU, recorded 410 million euros. WISAG generated €310.4 million, Pond Security €292.2 million and Klüh €221.8 million. Germany thus has, amongst the international conglomerates and thousands of smaller providers, a group of large national companies that possess considerable human resources, their own control centres, technical expertise and, in some cases, decades-long relationships with industry and the public sector. This makes it difficult for international providers to consolidate the market easily and, at the same time, opens up different ways of responding to the increasing KRITIS requirements.
KÖTTER as a German
alternative
Among these companies, KÖTTER occupies a special position. Lünendonk ranks the Essen-based group in second place in the German security market by a clear margin; in the 2025 market study, 82 per cent of the companies surveyed named KÖTTER as one of the most important competitors in the overall market. Only Securitas achieved a higher figure, at 85 per cent.
The company differs significantly in structure from the Swedish market leader. KÖTTER is family-run and largely focused on Germany. The group has around 100 branches across the country, employed some 16,400 people in 2025 and generated a total turnover of 770 million euros. This represents a year-on-year growth of 6.6 per cent for the group; in the security segment, growth was even higher at 8.6 per cent.
What is interesting is not so much the size gap between KÖTTER and Securitas as the strategy KÖTTER is using to respond to it. Rather than establishing a European regional organisation comparable to that of international conglomerates, the company is broadening its value creation in its home market. Traditional security services are increasingly being combined with technology, risk management and digital capabilities.
Acquisitions expand
value creation
The acquisition of the WAKO Group in October 2024 particularly strengthened the company’s position in northern Germany. Since early 2026, WAKO has been operating entirely under the name KÖTTER Security; more than 800 employees have been integrated into the existing structures. The northern German firm STuK Sicherheitstechnik was acquired on 1 January 2025 and has expanded the company’s expertise in electronic security technology and technical fire protection.

The expansion into digital security goes even further. Since May 2026, the cybersecurity specialist G.I.P., in which KÖTTER holds a majority stake, has been operating under the name KÖTTER Cyber Security. This enables the group to increasingly offer manned security services, security technology, risk management and cybersecurity under one roof.
European standards
as a competitive factor
Particularly in the KRITIS sector, KÖTTER is also pursuing a notable standardisation strategy. In April 2025, the company received certification in accordance with DIN EN 17483 Parts 1 to 3. At the time, CoESS described KÖTTER as the first German provider and one of only a few European service providers to be certified for all parts of the series of standards published at that time. Part 1 sets out general requirements, Part 2 concerns aviation security, and Part 3 covers maritime shipping and seaports.

However, this statement must now be viewed in the context of the times. Since April 2026, a further European standard, EN 17483-4, has been in place for security services in the energy sector; the German version, DIN EN 17483-4, is due to be published in September 2026. To date, there has been no published confirmation of KÖTTER’s certification under this new part. The certification achieved in 2025 therefore remains noteworthy, but should no longer be described as certification covering the entire series of standards as it now stands.
It is precisely this further development of the EN 17483 series that shows the direction in which the market could be moving. Whilst European standards cannot standardise the security markets, which vary from country to country, they do create comparable quality benchmarks.

For KRITIS operators active across Europe, such standards may play a greater role in future tenders, thereby also opening up access for national service providers to customers who are increasingly defining their quality criteria on a cross-border basis.

KÖTTER also maintains an unusually strong presence in European industry policy. Friedrich P. Kötter is currently First Vice-President of CoESS. This means that the German family-run business is part of an association whose committees bring together representatives of international groups and national security associations to shape European standards and industry positions.

This results in a different model of internationalisation to that of Securitas. Whilst the Swedish group gains European relevance through its operational presence in numerous markets, KÖTTER remains essentially Germany-centred in its business operations, whilst participating in European standardisation and industry policy. This can be attractive for German operators: they gain a provider that is deeply rooted in national labour and regulatory structures whilst at the same time seeking to align its services with European quality standards.
New requirements are changing
the economics of the sector
The European KRITIS framework is therefore unlikely simply to generate more business, but rather to alter the nature of competition itself. Lünendonk forecasts annual growth rates of 6.7 to 7.6 per cent for the German security services market between 2026 and 2030, and explicitly cites rising demand as a result of KRITIS regulations as a key growth driver.

However, not all market participants will necessarily benefit from this to the same extent. A company that provides security personnel exclusively requires comparatively little technological infrastructure. A provider that also offers certified control centres, video analysis, cybersecurity, risk consultancy and crisis management must tie up considerably more capital. Software, redundant systems, training, audits and specialist technical staff increase fixed costs.

This initially favours larger providers, who can spread their investments across numerous contracts. International groups enjoy particular economies of scale in this regard. Securitas can finance technological developments through a group with more than 300,000 employees and operations in 44 markets. National providers such as KÖTTER, on the other hand, can attempt to offset the disadvantage of their smaller size through specialisation, greater integration and detailed knowledge of their home market.
Smaller providers
must position themselves
For smaller security firms, this does not necessarily spell decline, but it does create pressure to make strategic decisions. They can build up particularly high levels of expertise in specialised segments, occupy regional markets, enter into technical partnerships or operate as part of larger supply models. By contrast, a business model that differentiates itself almost exclusively through available staff and low hourly rates is likely to become more difficult to sustain.
There is another side to this development. Integrated security models promise higher quality and better responsiveness, but make it harder to compare different offers. A manned gate or a patrol round can be specified and costed relatively clearly. The economic value of a risk analysis or a continuously generated situational overview is harder to measure, because successful prevention can be characterised precisely by the fact that an incident does not escalate.
Integration creates
new dependencies
At the same time, new dependencies are emerging. A security service provider that combines personnel, a control centre, technical platforms, cyber security and risk analysis gains deep insight into the client’s processes and vulnerabilities. For operators of critical infrastructure (KRITIS), questions regarding data sovereignty, open interfaces, resilience and the possibility of switching providers are therefore becoming more important alongside price and performance. An integrated security approach can reduce complexity; however, in the absence of adequate governance, it can itself become a strategic dependency.

A similar tension arises with the increasing use of data. The earlier risks are to be identified, the more information must be analysed. Sensors, access control systems, video analysis and external risk data improve situational awareness in the best-case scenario, but at the same time generate additional sensitive data sets. The cybersecurity and resilience of a private security service provider are thus becoming an ever more integral part of its client’s security architecture.

This is also where Brümmer’s emphasis on human judgement takes on a significance that extends beyond Securitas. Technology and artificial intelligence can analyse large volumes of information and prioritise anomalies; however, the assessment of context, consequences and an appropriate response remains a task for experts. This results in a remarkable transformation for the industry: the more routine tasks are automated, the more demanding the remaining human element of security work can become.
A European market
without a single European model
The protection of critical infrastructure is thus increasingly being organised at a European level, without this resulting in a single European market for security services. The EU is harmonising to a greater extent the level of resilience that operators are expected to achieve. However, who provides the necessary services and under what conditions this takes place remains largely dependent on national market structures.

For global players such as Securitas, this presents a favourable starting point, as they can combine cross-border client relationships with a local presence. G4S and Prosegur demonstrate that other international groups are also integrating technology and traditional security services within large-scale geographical structures. Competition is consequently increasingly characterised by the ability to standardise solutions without ignoring the specific characteristics of individual countries.
Within Europe, Germany presents an interesting counterpoint. Securitas is the clear market leader here, but faces major national competitors of a scale not commonly found in other European countries. KÖTTER is particularly relevant in this context, as the company demonstrates how a family-run provider can position itself between national roots and European quality standards.
Kieler Wach- und Sicherheitsgesellschaft/Sicherheit Nord, Niedersächsische Wach- und Schliessgesellschaft/VSU, WISAG, Pond and Klüh make up a group of challengers that keeps the German market relatively diverse, despite the presence of international conglomerates.
The decisive factor will be
the quality of integration
The crucial question in future is therefore likely to be less about which provider can employ the most security personnel. It will become more important to determine which provider can combine qualified personnel, technology, control centres, data and risk expertise in such a way as to create a robust security process. The approach described by Securitas as ‘intelligence-led security’ is one aspect of this shift; the expansion of the KÖTTER portfolio to include technology, KRITIS certifications and cybersecurity is another.

This presents the security industry with significant growth opportunities, but not risk-free expansion. Investment and skill requirements are rising, the boundaries between traditional security services, technology and consultancy are becoming blurred, and clients must assess more carefully the dependencies associated with integrated models.

Particularly when it comes to the protection of critical infrastructure, it would be counterproductive to increase resilience solely by concentrating key security functions amongst a small number of service providers who are difficult to replace. Europe is therefore unlikely to experience either a market consisting exclusively of global security platforms or a resurgence of purely national models. A more likely scenario is a coexistence of multinational corporations, large national service providers and highly specialised providers.

Which companies will be successful in this context in the long term will not be determined by their size alone. The decisive factor is likely to be whether they can combine European standards, national operational strength and technological development – without, ironically, creating new vulnerabilities in precisely those areas where they are intended to reduce existing ones.

INFOBOX

| | The German market in figures

Europe: around 45,000 private security companies, approximately two million

• €14.75 billion market volume: The BDSW forecasts industry turnover of €14.75 billion for 2025. In 2015, the figure stood at 6.96 billion euros – meaning turnover has more than doubled within a decade.
• 290,674 employees: By the end of 2025, around 290,700 people were working in security and guard services as well as private investigation agencies in Germany. However, employment grew by only 0.03 per cent compared with the previous year.
• €5.63 billion in turnover for the top 25: According to Lünendonk, the 25 leading security service providers generated a combined total of €5.628 billion in security-related turnover in 2025, representing around 40 per cent of the German market volume excluding cash and valuables logistics.
• 97,400 employees at the top 25: Around a third of all employees in the German security sector work for the 25 leading providers. At the same time, the market share of around 40 per cent shows that the German security market remains comparatively diverse despite the presence of large providers.
• 4.6 per cent growth: The Top 25 increased their turnover by an average of 4.6 per cent in 2025. This represented a slowdown in momentum compared with the previous year.
• 6.7 to 7.6 per cent growth expected: For the years 2026 to 2030, the service providers surveyed by Lünendonk anticipate significantly higher annual growth rates once again. Lünendonk cites rising demand resulting from the KRITIS regulations as a key driver.
• People and technology: Whilst employment is virtually stagnating, the surveillance and alarm systems sector in particular is gaining in importance. The BDSW sees the closer integration of qualified staff and security technology as a key development path for the sector.
• Securitas Europe: SEK 67.4 billion in turnover; Germany accounts for 20 per cent of the European segment’s turnover.
• Germany: The BDSW forecasts industry turnover of 14.75 billion euros for 2025; by the end of 2025, around 290,700 people were employed in security guard and security services as well as detective agencies.
• Concentration: The 25 largest German security service providers together account for around 40 per cent of the market volume, excluding cash and valuables logistics.

Sources: BDSW – Market and employment data for the security industry 2026; Lünendonk List 2026 ‘Leading Security Service Providers in Germany’ and initial findings from the Lünendonk Study 2026 ‘Security Services in Germany’; Securitas Technology: | Technology Trends To Watch In 2026 2026 Global Technology Outlook Report [CN]