14/4/2008

Business

Loyalty and pride the key to success

Loyalty, pride, courtesy, respect and professionalism – all attributes of employees at a company that aims to give something back to its staff.

Those working for Bowles Security Services (BSS) are considered part of a large family by chairman Brian Mein.

He considers his workers, 150 of which are ex-British Gurkha soldiers, as the essential ingredient in the company’s recent success.

The Aldershot-based organisation pays the salaries of teachers in a school in remote Nepal, helping the families of staff who are now living here.

General manager Nakarji Gurung said his Nepalese colleagues felt comfortable working for a company that understood their native culture.

“Our skills are very relevant to the jobs we have with this company,” Mr Gurung, a retired major from the 1st Royal Gurkha Rifles Regiment, said.

“There is real job security as they understand how our culture operates. Mr Mein has visited Nepal four times and knows how closely linked the community is there.”

Kamal Sing Rana served for 17 years with the 2nd Gurkha Rifles before retiring as a corporal.

He was recently given the Officer of the Quarter accolade at a company awards ceremony at the Gurkha Palace restaurant in Farnborough by company director Field Marshall the Lord Bramall.

Mr Rana feels living in England benefits him financially and also his family in other ways.

“The education in this country is much more advanced than in Nepal, which is good for our children,” he said.

“We’re able to integrate into the community as there are quite a few Nepalese people here and we’ve made Aldershot our home.”

Mr Gurung added: “If there were very few Nepalese here then we might find it difficult to settle in.

“It usually takes between six months and a year for new people to integrate.”

BSS has helped to run a school in Galem, a village in Nepal, by providing cash for computers and electricity.

Money has also been sent to help run an old people’s home in nearby Pokhara.

Employees are able to take one or even two months leave at any time to visit family back home.

Mr Mein praised his workforce saying their integrity was a vital component in the running of his and business partner Alan Bowles’ company.

“It is really the experience of the ex-Gurkha soldiers that is so valuable to our company.

“They have loyalty and an excellent proficiency of service that is required for the kind of work that we do. They are extremely polite and really the perfect candidates for security officers.”

He said that fewer than 10% of the Nepalese men who apply to be in the British Army make the grade.

“They want to come here to work and support their families back in Nepal,” Mr Mein said. “Education for their children is so much better here as services in Nepal are basic to say the least. People have to travel up and down hills and mountains by foot to get to places.

“Family is extremely important to Nepalese people and they embrace others like relations even when they are not linked by blood.

“We have adopted that ethos as an organisation and feel that we reap the benefits from all their hard work, loyalty and dedication.”

BSS offers a wide range of services, including defence security, support services, manned and electronic security and close protection.

The company, based in St George’s House, St George’s Road, Aldershot, has nearly doubled in size in the past two years and is rapidly becoming a frontrunner in its field.

Call 01252 345100, visit www.bowles.uk.com or email security@bowlesuk.com.

Those working for Bowles Security Services (BSS) are considered part of a large family by chairman Brian Mein.

He considers his workers, 150 of which are ex-British Gurkha soldiers, as the essential ingredient in the company’s recent success.

The Aldershot-based organisation pays the salaries of teachers in a school in remote Nepal, helping the families of staff who are now living here.

General manager Nakarji Gurung said his Nepalese colleagues felt comfortable working for a company that understood their native culture.

“Our skills are very relevant to the jobs we have with this company,” Mr Gurung, a retired major from the 1st Royal Gurkha Rifles Regiment, said.

“There is real job security as they understand how our culture operates. Mr Mein has visited Nepal four times and knows how closely linked the community is there.”

Kamal Sing Rana served for 17 years with the 2nd Gurkha Rifles before retiring as a corporal.

He was recently given the Officer of the Quarter accolade at a company awards ceremony at the Gurkha Palace restaurant in Farnborough by company director Field Marshall the Lord Bramall.

Mr Rana feels living in England benefits him financially and also his family in other ways.

“The education in this country is much more advanced than in Nepal, which is good for our children,” he said.

“We’re able to integrate into the community as there are quite a few Nepalese people here and we’ve made Aldershot our home.”

Mr Gurung added: “If there were very few Nepalese here then we might find it difficult to settle in.

“It usually takes between six months and a year for new people to integrate.”

BSS has helped to run a school in Galem, a village in Nepal, by providing cash for computers and electricity.

Money has also been sent to help run an old people’s home in nearby Pokhara.

Employees are able to take one or even two months leave at any time to visit family back home.

Mr Mein praised his workforce saying their integrity was a vital component in the running of his and business partner Alan Bowles’ company.

“It is really the experience of the ex-Gurkha soldiers that is so valuable to our company.

“They have loyalty and an excellent proficiency of service that is required for the kind of work that we do. They are extremely polite and really the perfect candidates for security officers.”

He said that fewer than 10% of the Nepalese men who apply to be in the British Army make the grade.

“They want to come here to work and support their families back in Nepal,” Mr Mein said. “Education for their children is so much better here as services in Nepal are basic to say the least. People have to travel up and down hills and mountains by foot to get to places.

“Family is extremely important to Nepalese people and they embrace others like relations even when they are not linked by blood.

“We have adopted that ethos as an organisation and feel that we reap the benefits from all their hard work, loyalty and dedication.”

BSS offers a wide range of services, including defence security, support services, manned and electronic security and close protection.

The company, based in St George’s House, St George’s Road, Aldershot, has nearly doubled in size in the past two years and is rapidly becoming a frontrunner in its field.

Call 01252 345100, visit www.bowles.uk.com or email security@bowlesuk.com.

First printed in: The News and Mail Series