G4S address by Alf Duch Pedersen, Chairman of G4S plc

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For those of you that I haven’t yet met, I am Alf Duch Pedersen, Chairman of G4S plc and a friend and colleague of Jorgen Philip Sorensen.  On behalf of myself and G4S, I am honoured to pay tribute to Philip on this very moving occasion.

I got to know Philip when Group 4 and the Danish company Falck, of which I was chairman, decided to merge in 2000. Once we got together and discussed the idea in principle, it didn’t take us more than 10 minutes to agree on how we would do it and what the next steps would be for Group 4 Falck after the merger. And that included a hopeful merger with Securicor in the future, which of course followed a few years later. 

Philip was always straight to the point.  He sometimes gave the impression that he wasn’t quite sure what he was doing but it didn’t take long for you to realise he knew precisely what he was doing. He was easy-going, even when we were negotiating large sums of money.  He also had a fantastic memory and was very good at spotting strengths and weaknesses in people. That was one of his great fortunes – he usually recruited the right people.

Philip had an enormous impact on the culture of Group 4, Group 4 Falck and ultimately G4S.  He brought an entrepreneurial spirit to the organisation and a sense of passion and drive – things always moved forward when Philip was involved and he never looked back.

I found that he was always at his best when discussing business over lunch or dinner in a relaxed environment.  He was an early believer in Corporate Social Responsibility and understood that businesses have a responsibility to give something back to the communities in which they operate and their employees live and work.

He never felt quite as comfortable with this new corporate governance thing – particularly if it increased bureaucracy and hindered progress.

Philip was always focused on the future. He wasn’t so interested in the next quarter or half-year result, he was much more interested in long-term prospects.

Philip was undoubtedly the architect of the security industry as we know it today and was instrumental in creating G4S - an organisation which has become one of the world’s leading companies and largest private employers – touching the lives of millions of people along the way and ultimately chairing the organisation which now employs more than 590,000 people.

He was also a remarkable businessman and an inspiring leader who, even when his health was suffering, played a major role in the global security industry and influenced its development and the constant drive for improving the quality and reputation of the industry.

One of things that we know, and have heard time and time again from those around him, is that he always made time for the front line employees.  He knew that they were the true ambassadors of the company and if you took care of them, then they would take care of the business.

On his many travels, he always made time to chat to staff, and more importantly, to listen to what they had to say about the job they were doing and their ideas for improving the way we work. 

He never forgot the value of that feedback - that philosophy remains at the heart of our business strategy today.

What Philip had was instinct – he could sense if a business deal was a good one and if it would be a success, he could tell if a business partner would add value to the company’s offering and he could read the mood of the employees without even speaking to them – I don’t know how he did it, but this just came naturally to him.

I have seen many of the tributes that have been paid to Philip since his passing and there is no doubt that he was a very popular man who touched the lives of many – it is therefore no surprise that this beautiful cathedral is packed with Philip’s family, friends and colleagues – a true reflection of his impact on us all.

I wanted to share with you some of the stories about Philip from around the business provided by a number of friends and colleagues.

Jacques Godefroimont was Philip’s first ever employee.  They met at the Metropole Hotel in Brussels, 44 years ago when Philip was selecting candidates to work at the Belgium office.  Jacques also met Philip’s father and was selected as the successful candidate.

Both Jacques and Philip worked as patrol officers during the night.  One particular night, Philip was arrested because he hadn’t changed the number plates on his car, from the Swedish to Belgian ones. A neighbour had thought it very suspicious because the shop that they were protecting had been broken into the week before. It turned out to be a very long night resulting in Philip having to wake up the security manager of the shop to ask him to identify him.  The police then let him go.

Jacques remembers Philip’s enthusiasm and thinks of him as a leading force in the way to start up a new business, even when the capital available is limited.

In short, Jacques described Philip in three simple ways - great enthusiasm, very hard working and a leading personality in the security world.

Eamonn Hudson, MD of G4S in Ireland remembers Philip having the audacity to telephone Sean Lemass (former prime minister of Ireland – seen as the architect of the modern Ireland) from a public telephone to invite him to become the first non-executive director on the Irish Board of Group 4 Falck Security. 

On one occasion, the date of a board meeting coincided with a World Cup game where Ireland were playing Romania.  Philip had to fly over to Ireland for the board meeting.  The game went to penalties in extra time which meant that Philip and the other passengers on the flight were left circling above the airport while the air traffic controllers watched the penalty shoot out!

Andreas Paterakis, G4S Regional President for Central & Southern Europe, met Philip 27 years ago when he was introduced to Philip by his younger brother, Sven, during a flight.  By the end of the journey they had agreed to set up a joint venture in Greece.

Andreas says that he learned two key lessons from Philip – to always travel business class and talk to people next to you – as it could change your life.

The joint venture didn’t happen quite as expected as Philip got wind of another business opportunity (which was typical of Philip) and he ended up putting the 3 businesses together to form Group 4 Greece as it was known at the time.

It is clear from these stories and from the many tributes that we have seen in recent weeks that Philip was an outstanding and instinctive businessman, an inspirational leader, a valued colleague and a very good friend. 

I, and his colleagues at G4S, will miss him greatly.

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