24/7 Emergency Response — 0121 751 9038
SIA Licensed · Worcestershire & West Midlands
Home Technology Case Studies Blog Buyer's Guide About Get a Quote
Home › Keyholding & Alarm Response
Keyholding & Alarm Response · SIA Licensed · Worcestershire & West Midlands

Keyholding &
Alarm Response

When an alarm goes off at 3am, someone has to attend. It should never be you or your staff. Risk Secured holds your keys securely and sends an SIA-licensed officer to every activation — day or night, every day of the year. We check the premises, deal with whatever we find, liaise with police and emergency services, secure the site and stay until it's safe. Every attendance is logged in real time through DOB·Live, with a police incident number captured for your insurer. Local response from a Worcestershire-based team — not a national control room dispatching from two counties away.
Book a Free Security Risk Assessment Call 0121 751 9038
Why Professional Keyholding

Your staff should never
attend an alarm.

Handing a set of keys to a member of staff feels convenient. It is also a serious risk you carry as an employer. Sending an untrained person to a possible break-in — alone, at night, with no idea what they'll find — exposes them to danger and exposes you to liability under health and safety and corporate responsibility law. The vast majority of commercial alarm activations are false alarms, but the one that isn't is exactly the one you don't want your staff walking into.

Professional keyholding removes that risk entirely. A trained, SIA-licensed officer attends instead — someone who knows how to assess a scene, tell a genuine activation from a fault, manage the situation and work alongside the police. Your team sleeps through it. Your premises are protected. And the whole thing is documented.

There's an insurance dimension too. Many commercial property policies require that off-site keyholding is carried out professionally and to recognised standards — and a documented, consistent response materially strengthens your position if you ever need to make a claim. Doing it properly protects the asset, the people and the cover.

Done Properly

Keys handled to
recognised standards.

Keyholding and alarm response in the UK is governed by BS 7984, the British Standard for the service. Risk Secured operates in line with its key-handling principles: every set of keys is uniquely numbered and coded so it carries no name or address that could identify your premises, with the linking record held securely and separately, and every movement of a key logged and auditable. Our responding officers are individually SIA-licensed and vetted in line with BS 7858.

We are working toward SIA Approved Contractor Scheme (ACS) accreditation, planned for 2027. What you get from us today is SIA-licensed officers, key handling to BS 7984 principles, full DOB·Live evidence on every attendance, and direct accountability to the company director — not a faceless national contract.

What's Included

A complete
out-of-hours response.

Secure Key Storage

Keys numbered, coded and stored securely; no address marking; full audit trail.

24/7 Alarm Response

SIA-licensed officer attends every activation, 365 days a year.

Scene Assessment

Genuine activation or false alarm? A trained officer makes the call, not your staff.

Police & Emergency Liaison

We work with police on site, capture the incident number for your insurer.

Make-Safe & Secure

We secure the premises and stay until it's safe; arrange boarding or lock changes if needed.

Lock & Unlock

Scheduled opening and closing of your premises at times that suit you.

Out-of-Hours Access

Let contractors or staff in, manage access when you're not there.

DOB·Live Evidence

Every attendance timestamped, tamper-evident, visible to you in real time.

Keyholding is rarely the only thing a site needs.
Get a Quote → Lock & Unlock Service Mobile Patrols →

Lock and unlock, alarm response and patrols run off the same keyholding arrangement — tell us what the site needs and we will price it as one service.

Real-Time Proof

You'll know exactly what happened
— and when.

Most keyholding you have to take on trust: an officer says they attended, and you believe them. With Risk Secured, every attendance is logged live in DOB·Live — time, location, what was found, what was done — timestamped and tamper-evident, visible to you through the client portal. When an alarm goes at 3am, you wake up to a complete, evidenced record, including the police incident number for your insurer. No monthly summary you have to trust; proof you can see.

Digital Occurrence Book
DOB·Live

Every keyholding attendance, every alarm response, every lock-and-unlock — timestamped, tamper-evident, and visible to you via the client portal in real time. Your insurer, your solicitor and your board can rely on it.

View client portal →
What Actually Happens

Attending is not the same
as responding.

Anyone can drive to a site, look at a door and leave. That is attendance, and it is not what you are paying for.

When an alarm or camera activates, the question that matters is what caused it. Our officers work the site: checking the perimeter and access points for signs of forced or attempted entry, establishing what triggered the activation, and securing the premises before they leave. If there is an intrusion, it is escalated immediately and the police incident number is captured. If there is a fault, a door left insecure, or a recurring environmental cause, you are told — along with what would stop it happening again.

Police forces prioritise by threat to life and confirmed crime in progress. An unconfirmed commercial alarm activation sits below that, which is why a keyholding arrangement that relies on police attendance is not a plan.

We also keep our response honest by keeping it local. We only take on work inside our patrol area — we are not running officers between counties chasing activations. That is a deliberate limit on the business, and it is the reason our officers arrive when they are needed rather than an hour later.

Every attendance is logged in DOB·Live — timestamped, GPS-located and tamper-evident, with photographs where relevant, visible to you in real time and exportable for your insurer.

Perimeter and access points checked for signs of entry
Cause of activation established, not assumed
Premises secured before the officer leaves
Written assessment of anything that should be improved
SIA-licensed Risk Secured officer checking a stairwell with a torch during an alarm response attendance
Included as Standard

Every client gets more
than a response.

A keyholding contract with Risk Secured is not a phone number that gets answered. Every client receives regular intelligence updates covering what is actually happening in their area, a security assessment of their site, and practical advice on what would reduce their risk — whether or not it involves buying anything else from us.

That is not an upsell. Knowing which vehicles have been active on an industrial estate, or that a neighbouring unit was entered through a roof light last month, is the difference between a service that reacts and one that prevents.

Regular local intelligence updates
Site security assessment
Practical advice on reducing risk, tied to no further purchase
Common Questions

Keyholding & Alarm Response — FAQ

Why shouldn't my staff just hold the keys?
Sending untrained staff to respond to an alarm — alone, at night — exposes them to real danger and exposes you to liability as their employer. A professional, SIA-licensed officer is trained to assess the scene, handle a genuine break-in, and work with the police. Your staff stay safe and rested; your premises are properly protected.
How are my keys kept secure?
In line with BS 7984 principles, each set of keys is uniquely numbered and coded so it carries no name or address identifying your premises. The record linking codes to addresses is held securely and separately, and every key movement is logged and auditable.
How quickly will you respond?
Because we are Worcestershire-based and operate locally, our response comes from a genuinely local officer rather than a national control room dispatching from two counties away. We attend 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and agree target response times with you up front in your assignment instructions.
Will this help with my insurance?
Often, yes. Many commercial property policies expect off-site keyholding to be handled professionally and to recognised standards, and a documented, consistent response — with a police incident number and full DOB·Live evidence — materially strengthens your position if you need to claim.
How much does commercial security cost?
There's no fixed rate card — every quote is bespoke to your site and, where relevant, your portfolio, and it's fully transparent and open-book so you see exactly what you're paying for. Be wary of anyone who answers this with a suspiciously low figure: a compliant guard costs more than many quotes suggest once fair pay, vetting, insurance and proper management are accounted for. We explain exactly why in our guide to ethical security procurement. Tell us about your site and you'll get a straight, honest figure from the Director.
Why shouldn't I just take the cheapest quote?
Because in security, the cheapest quote is usually a warning, not a bargain. A rate that undercuts everyone else often means officers underpaid, vetting skipped, or insurance missing — and that risk transfers to you as the client. The SIA's own guidance says buying on cost alone is a risk. We set out what to check, and why, in our guide to ethical security procurement.
Do I have to sign a long-term contract?
No. We keep clients by being good, not by tying them down — start and stop on your terms.
Are your officers licensed and vetted?
Yes — every officer on every deployment. All our officers are individually SIA-licensed and screened to BS7858, the British Standard for security vetting (employment history, references, and background checks).
Are you ACS accredited?
Our officers are individually SIA-licensed and vetted in line with BS 7858, and we handle keys to BS 7984 principles. We are working toward SIA Approved Contractor Scheme (ACS) accreditation. What sets us apart now is genuine local fast response, real-time DOB·Live evidence on every attendance, and direct accountability to the company director.
How do I know your officers actually attended?
Because you can see it. Every attendance is logged live in DOB·Live — timestamped, GPS-located and tamper-evident, visible to you in real time. Evidenced proof of every attendance, exportable for your insurer.
What makes you different from a national security firm?
You deal with the Director — not a call centre or rotating account manager. We're genuinely local (Worcestershire-based, not dispatched from two counties away). And every attendance is evidenced in real time through DOB·Live. We're embedded enough that clients say it feels in-house.
What does your officer actually do when they attend?
They work the site rather than just look at it. That means checking the perimeter and access points for signs of forced or attempted entry, establishing what caused the activation, and securing the premises before leaving. An intrusion is escalated immediately and the police incident number captured. Anything else — a fault, an insecure door, a recurring cause — is reported to you with an assessment of what would prevent it recurring. All of it is logged in DOB·Live.
Where We Cover

Keyholding & alarm response across
Worcestershire & the West Midlands.

Keyholding in Worcester Keyholding in Droitwich Keyholding in Pershore Worcestershire Keyholding in Birmingham Keyholding in Wolverhampton Keyholding in Walsall Keyholding in Willenhall Keyholding in Coventry
Our Services

Other Risk Secured Services

Security Guarding Mobile Patrols Vacant Property Security CCTV Tower Hire Critical Intervention
Stop putting your staff on the front line. Start with a free risk assessment.
Book Your Free Assessment →
Get a Quote

Stop putting your staff on the front line.
Start with a free risk assessment.

Talk directly to David Foster, the director responsible. We'll assess your premises and out-of-hours risk, agree a response protocol, and set it all out clearly before a single key changes hands. No obligation.

Office
0121 751 9038
24/7 Emergency
0121 751 9038

Request a Quote

We respond to all enquiries within 2 hours during office hours. For urgent requirements call 0121 751 9038 or the 24/7 emergency line.

Call 0121 751 9038