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8 mins read
Case studies Business & Commercial Insurance

OpenView Security Solutions: From One-Man Band to Market Leader

08.05.26

By Alan Boswell Group

In the late 1980s, Paul Bullen was a young entrepreneur installing car alarms and phones from his home in Cartel Close, Essex. His car security business, aptly named Cartel, would lay the foundations for what is now OpenView Security Solutions Ltd - the UK’s largest privately-owned independent security company. Over three decades, OpenView has grown from a handful of engineers and a modest turnover to a national operation with a £70 million annual revenue, serving both public and private sectors with integrated security, fire, electrical, and IT infrastructure systems. 

Paul Bullen - Group Director, OpenView

Paul’s journey began in 1989 with a stroke of luck and a keen sense of opportunity. 

“I was just in the right place at the right time,” Paul recalls. “I was chatting to a friend at the pub one night who worked for Coral [the bookmakers] and he mentioned that they were suffering a spate of armed robberies at the time. 

“What was happening was the manager was going in in the morning and putting the cash in the tills. He would then go and open the front door and then walk back to the counter. He was vulnerable in that space between the front door and the counter. 

“They were looking for a company to install alarms and electronic door locks, and my friend put my name forward. I went and met the company, and my price was so low they asked me to revise the price up! I added 25% and still got the work.” 

Paul quickly won their trust. “I was installing an alarm, a door lock, and CCTV in a shop in a day. In the 1990s, I was earning something like £50,000 a month, so that’s what built me up to what we’ve got today,” he says. 

The business grew steadily, with Paul bringing in partners Kevin Hall and Mark Ingleson in 1999. Strategic acquisitions followed: Delaware Communications in 2004, Camrasonic Limited in 2005, and Garndene Communications in 2009. Each acquisition brought new expertise and expanded OpenView’s reach, but the ethos remained the same; keep the acquired businesses running, retain the staff, and honour the legacy of outgoing owners. “The previous owners of the companies we’ve bought had run them for 30 to 40 years.” Paul explains. 

We build control rooms in city centres where we maintain every single camera in the borough. We also do a lot of compliance work, electrical testing, and fire alarm testing.

The company’s core activities have diversified to include city-centre CCTV, door entry systems, fire alarms, electrical compliance, and IT infrastructure. “We build control rooms in city centres where we maintain every single camera in the borough. We also do a lot of compliance work, electrical testing, and fire alarm testing,” Paul says. 

A key part of OpenView’s operational success is its long-standing relationship with Pendle Vehicle Contracts, managed by long-term friends, Darren Cannell and Tony Thorne. Pendle Vehicle Contracts provides a fully managed fleet service, handling not only the supply but also the ongoing management of the entire fleet of over 300 vehicles that keep OpenView’s engineers on the road. “We used to lease all our cars from another firm, but Tony and Darren set up Pendle Vehicle Contracts and they came to us with a far more competitive and compelling proposition. Over time, we moved all our leasing to Pendle. They’ve maintained the 300-plus fleet ever since,” Paul says. 

Trust and reliability are at the heart of this partnership. “We had a few issues, like everyone did after COVID, but Pendle always gets deals done.” Paul explains. The relationship is so integral that new starters at OpenView are added to the fleet by Pendle directly, who handle sourcing, organising, and insurance administration. 

As OpenView grew, so did its need for sophisticated risk management and insurance solutions.  

“We had been introduced to our previous brokers by Darren and got on well with the team there; we’d been with them for 15 years. But the service started lapsing, staff left, and they didn't support us through those transitions. 

We moved to Boswell’s because we knew Paul and Caroline would provide the expertise and service we were looking for.

“Darren had already moved Pendle Vehicle Contracts’ insurance to Alan Boswell Group, which turned out to be a fortunate link for us. One of the team members who left our previous broker was Paul Sissons [Executive Handler], who then joined Alan Boswell Group. 

“The trust with our previous broker had broken down. We moved to Boswell’s because we knew Paul and Caroline [Pyle – Account Executive] would provide the expertise and service we were looking for. 

“We’ve since met Alan [Boswell] and it is great to meet the person who owns the business and is actively involved,” Paul says. 

ABG now supports OpenView with a comprehensive insurance programme, including public liability, employers’ liability, professional indemnity, and fleet cover. The relationship is built on personal service and trust, qualities Paul values highly after less positive experiences with larger, shareholder-driven brokers. “I don’t want a big company. I want to deal with somebody where I know the staff. That’s why people deal with us and don’t go to the big firms,” he says. 

I don’t want a big company [for our insurance]. I want to deal with somebody where I know the staff. That’s why people deal with us and don’t go to the big firms.

With a management board now running day-to-day operations, Paul and his fellow shareholders have taken a step back, focusing on strategic growth and succession planning. “We’ve got big projects on the go - Project 100 is looking at white space between customers. The aim is to grow the business by 5% a year minimum, just through organic growth. The focus is on being ‘one of the best’ in the market, looking after staff, and delivering for clients.” 

For OpenView, trusted partnerships, with Pendle Vehicle Contracts for fleet, and Alan Boswell Group for risk and insurance, are central to its continued success. 

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