How Much Does a Security Guard Cost in the UK?

The officer’s pay is only one part of it. The table below sets out the components a properly built rate should cover.

National Living Wage

The National Living Wage applies to workers aged 21 and over and is £12.71 an hour from 1 April 2026. Rates for younger workers are lower, but most contract guarding is carried out by officers aged 21 and over. The rate is reviewed each year, normally changing in April, so multi-year contracts need a mechanism to pass statutory increases through.

Employer National Insurance

For the 2026 to 2027 tax year, employers pay Class 1 National Insurance at 15% on each employee’s earnings above a secondary threshold of £5,000 a year. Some employers can claim the Employment Allowance, which reduces their total liability, but it is a company-level allowance rather than something that changes the cost of an individual officer hour.

Holiday pay

Most workers are entitled to at least 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year (28 days for someone working five days a week). Bank holidays can be counted within that entitlement. Because an officer working 46.4 weeks of the year is paid for 52, every hour actually worked carries roughly 12% extra in holiday cost.

Pension auto-enrolment

Employers must enrol eligible staff (aged 22 to State Pension age and earning at least £10,000 a year) into a workplace pension. The minimum total contribution is 8%, of which at least 3% must come from the employer, normally calculated on earnings between £6,240 and £50,270 a year.

The arithmetic below uses only published statutory figures. It is not a price and not a Seccuro rate; it shows the minimum employment cost of one officer before any of the variable costs in the table above are added.

1. Annual paid hours. An officer contracted for 40 hours a week is paid for 52 weeks: 2,080 hours.
2. Hours actually worked. Deduct 5.6 weeks of holiday: 46.4 weeks × 40 hours = 1,856 hours on site.
3. Gross pay at the National Living Wage. 2,080 × £12.71 = £26,436.80.
4. Employer National Insurance. (£26,436.80 − £5,000) × 15% = £3,215.52.
5. Employer pension. (£26,436.80 − £6,240) × 3% = £605.90.
6. Total statutory employment cost. £30,258.22 a year.
7. Cost per hour worked. £30,258.22 ÷ 1,856 = about £16.30.

That figure covers wages and statutory on-costs only. It excludes licensing, training, uniform, supervision, control room support, insurance, relief cover, overheads and margin, and it assumes the officer is paid no more than the legal minimum. A provider quoting a charge rate close to that level, or close to the National Living Wage itself, is either making a loss, paying below the legal minimum, avoiding employer obligations (for example through false self-employment), or not supplying what the specification requires. Each of those creates risk for the client.

Hours and unsocial time

Night, weekend and bank holiday shifts usually carry higher pay to attract and keep officers, and those premiums flow into the charge rate. Statutory rules also limit how long officers can work: night workers’ average working time should not exceed eight hours in any 24-hour period, and the 48-hour average weekly limit applies unless a worker has opted out. A 24/7 post therefore needs a rota of several officers, not one or two working long shifts.

Bank holidays

There is no statutory right to enhanced pay on bank holidays, so check whether a quotation states its bank holiday rate and which days it applies to.

Notice period and contract length

Short-notice requests require a provider to find, brief and deploy officers quickly, often at premium pay. Short contracts spread fixed set-up costs (site survey, assignment instructions, inductions, equipment) over fewer hours. Longer, stable contracts generally allow a lower rate. Seccuro provides emergency security cover for short-notice requirements, priced to reflect that.

Site risk and duties

A quiet reception desk and a construction site with repeated break-ins are different jobs. Higher-risk sites may need two officers for lone-working reasons, more frequent supervision, additional training or specific skills, all of which raise the cost.

Dog units and vehicles

A security dog team involves the handler’s time, the dog’s care, kennelling, vehicle and veterinary costs, and compliance with the Guard Dogs Act 1975, so it is priced differently from a static officer. Mobile patrols in marked vehicles carry fuel, insurance, tracking and vehicle costs but are shared across several sites, which can make them cheaper than a dedicated officer for some properties.

Licensing and compliance

Every officer carrying out licensable guarding work must hold an SIA front-line licence, which costs £204 and normally lasts three years. Providers that invest in voluntary standards such as the SIA Approved Contractor Scheme also carry assessment and registration costs. These are modest per hour but are part of why compliant rates differ from non-compliant ones.

Depending on the risk, buyers often combine services:

• Mobile security patrols for scheduled or random visits rather than continuous presence.
• CCTV towers or remote CCTV monitoring to cover open areas out of hours.
• Keyholding and alarm response so that someone attends when a system activates.

Our guide to mobile patrols versus static guarding compares these options in more detail.

• Ask each supplier to quote against the same specification: hours, duties, number of officers, start date and contract length.
• Ask what pay rate officers will receive, and whether it is at least the National Living Wage for every hour, including handovers and mandatory briefings.
• Ask how holiday, sickness and training cover are provided and priced.
• Ask for the bank holiday rate and any premiums for short notice or additional hours.
• Check that officers are employed (not presented as self-employed) and hold the correct SIA licence.
• Ask how annual National Living Wage increases will be handled.
• Check insurance certificates and, where relevant, SIA Approved Contractor status on the public register.

Our guide on how to choose a security company covers supplier due diligence, and what to include in a security tender covers specification writing.

To discuss security guarding for your premises, request a quote.