UNDER THE RADAR:DIARMUID SMYTH is just back from northern Canada where he completed the 225km (140-mile) Rock and Ice Marathon Challenge in Arctic conditions. Carrying all of his own equipment and food on a run for six days, in temperatures that dipped as low as minus 35 degrees Celsius, is Smyth's preferred way of unwinding from the day job in the security business.

“When you are out in the middle of nowhere doing these extreme races, it certainly puts perspective on things,” says the managing director of Sword Event Guard International.

It also prepares him mentally and physically for the summer season – the busiest time of year for the growing security company.

Smyth’s firm provides security for music events such as Slane, Oxegen, Electric Picnic and the Glastonbury Festival in England and for sporting events such as the Galway races, as well focusing on its year-round work of providing security for many of Dublin’s top hotels and a number of retailers.

“Summers are our peak period,” says Smyth. “The hours are long and, because it is a man-management industry, the logistics and management processes involved can be quite stressful because you are juggling such a range and volume of people. It results in a huge planning process. For the majority of the events we have over the summer, the planning starts six to nine months out.”

Smyth set up Sword in Galway in 2002 and, in a way, he doesn’t fit the usual profile of a security consultant. For one thing, the history and archaeology graduate has no military or police background. “That would previously have been considered a disadvantage in the security industry in Ireland,” he says.

In fact, he got into the security business while he was studying at college.

“I started doing some security work in Galway just to supplement my income,” he says. “I had a martial arts background so I had the awareness, the training and discipline.”

However, the security work for others became so busy that Smyth decided to give it a try himself, first starting out as a sole trader before setting up Sword.

The lack of military or police experience that might have been a disadvantage turned out to be one of the reasons behind the rapid growth of the company.

“I looked at a lot of the competitors and they very much had the security perspective on it, whereas I had more of a business background and I tried to put the business perspective on things,” he says.

“I sit down with directors and say this is the business case for security which, in the medium to long term, will save them money. Unfortunately, a lot of people had just seen security as a necessary evil as opposed to a loss prevention system that actually increases profitability. So it’s about speaking to them in a language of business and management as opposed to just speaking in security terms.”

Nevertheless, Smyth knew that the lack of a security background could be a shortcoming one day, so he studied for a master’s degree in crisis and disaster management as well joining the major national and international security bodies.

It has paid off in spades – today the company has a turnover of €4.5 million and employs 700 staff at its offices in Dublin, Galway, Cork and Cardiff.

“With the whole Celtic Tiger boom, the number of hotels in Ireland and the entertainment industry have grown substantially,” he says. “We were in a fortunate enough position to be able to capitalise on that and grow with that. Another issue is the consolidation that has happened in the past two to three years in the industry with the establishment of the Private Security Authority which is licensing companies.

“Three years ago we would have had a lot more competitors than we do now, but small companies which haven’t been able to afford licensing or comply with systems have just gone under. There are opportunities there to pick up a substantial amount of work.”

The company is not limiting itself to expanding in the Republic. Smyth is targeting turnover of more than €10 million in two years’ time and much of that will come from expansion into the UK.

Sword recently won a €500,000 contract to provide security services in part of the new Wembley Stadium. With that under the belt, Smyth says the company plans to bid for security services for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and the 2012 Olympics in London.