Did you know that G4S is the world's largest security company (measured by revenues) and that it has operations in more than 85 countries with over 533,000 employees?

G4S, a British multinational private security company that is headquartered in London, England, was set up in July 2004 when London-based Securicor amalgamated with Danish firm Group 4 Falck. The company offers a range of services, including the supply of security personnel, monitoring equipment, response units and secure prisoner transportation. G4S also works with governments overseas to deliver security services.

By 2012, G4S was the largest European and African private employer. The security company has its origins in a guarding business founded in Copenhagen in 1901 by Marius Hogrefe, originally known as København Frederiksberg Nattevagt (Copenhagen and Frederiksberg Night Watch) and subsequently renamed Falck.

In 2000, Group 4, a security firm formed in the 1960s, merged with Falck to form Group 4 Falck and by 2000 the company was described as "the world's largest private security systems company". In 2002, Group 4 Falck went on to buy The Wackenhut Corporation in the United States. G4S was formed in July 2004, when Group 4 Falck's security business merged with Securicor to create Group 4 Securicor and began trading on both the Copenhagen and London Stock Exchanges.

In 2005, Lars Nørby Johansen was succeeded as chief executive by Nick Buckles and, in 2006, the new G4S brand identity, designed by Russell Johnson of UK design agency Stylus, was rolled out across its business worldwide. In the same year, Alf Duch-Pedersen succeeded Jørgen Philip-Sørensen to become the non-executive chairman of the business.

G4S segments its business into two areas: Secure Solutions which includes services for commercial and government organisations in areas such as risk consulting, manned security, and security systems; and Cash Solutions which is the outsourcing of cash cycle management for banks, financial institutions and retailers – making up 18 percent of G4S's turnover.

G4S's core services include 'manned security services' – where it provides trained and screened security officers. The company also provides 'security systems' such as access control, CCTV, intruder alarms, fire detection, video analytics and security and building systems integration technology. 'Monitoring and response services' is another core service, where G4S provides key holding, mobile security patrol and response services and alarm receiving and monitoring facilities.

G4S also provides 'secure facilities services' which includes integrated facilities services for entire sites or estates for commercial customers and governments. The business provides 'risk management and consultancy services' which also includes mine detection and clearance services. G4S also provides electronic tagging and monitoring of offenders at home or in the community. The company provides back-office support functions for police forces, support for front-line policing, including the provision of custody suite services and forensic medical services. It also manages juvenile and adult custody centres. This includes the management of all aspects of a facility and those held within the facility – similar centres are also used for the detention of asylum applicants. Prisoner escorting is another core service. G4S transports prisoners and asylum applicants between courts, police stations and custody centres.

In the early 2000s, the company (then still known as Group 4 Falck) bid unsuccessfully for the right to operate several railway franchises in the United Kingdom. In 2013, G4S Forensic and Medical Services were awarded a three-year contract to run services providing medical examinations and counselling for victims of rape and sexual assault in the West Midlands. It has been working in this area since 2005. The firm provides patient transport services for NHS Trusts including Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust; Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust; St George's Healthcare NHS Trust (£2.7 million a year), and Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust (£3.5 million a year).

In 2014, the Austrian Ministry of the Interior awarded G4S a contract to run a detention center in Vordernberg; this was the first privately operated prison in Austria. One of G4S' more interesting contracts may be securing the perimeter of Homey Airport, more commonly known as Area 51, the secret United States Air Force base in Nevada. The base is guarded by civilians forces referred to by those who watch the base as Camo Dudes. As of 2018, G4S operates two private prisons in Australia: Mount Gambier Prison and Port Phillip Prison.

In 2006, 2007 and 2008, G4S was the subject of a global campaign by union workers alleging that its subsidiaries undermine labour and human rights standards. The company has been criticised and involved in numerous controversies. Controversies involving the company have included use of immigrant-detainee labour in prisons, extreme misconduct in child custodial institutions in the UK and the US, allegations of police telephone data manipulation, its troubled nine-year employment of Orlando, Florida terrorist Omar Mateen, the escape of Thabo Bester from Mangaung Prison in South Africa, and the 2016 riot at Birmingham Prison in Birmingham, England.

Formerly a dual-listed company with listings on the Copenhagen and London stock exchanges, G4S was purchased by Allied Universal in April 2021. G4S has also been a target of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement for its involvement in Israel. In June 2023, it was reported that G4S would be divesting completely from Israel in response to years of campaigning pressure and “reputational damage”. G4S’ parent company, Allied Universal, was also said to have divested from Israel.

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