Around the world, there seems to be a heightened environment of grievance and declining institutional trust.
Around the world, there seems to be a heightened environment of grievance and declining institutional trust. Unfortunately, this means that high-profile businesspeople are living and working in a society where risks and threats are increasing.
According to the Security Executive Council (SEC), attacks on corporate executives have increased since 2003. Here are some of the headline facts the SEC found during the period they studied (up to 2025):
When you’re an event planner or corporate host, some of your VIP attendees might require a secure limo service to get them to and from your event.
Studies carried out between 1982 and 2003 have discovered that most attacks happen in or around the vehicle. That means VIP clients should be picked up and dropped off as close to the entrance of the building as possible.
Our trained secure drivers are likely to be able to get their security cars closer to the venue for reduced risk and increased safety when arriving and leaving a high-profile event.
When you make travel arrangements for VIPs, you need to book secure drivers and security cars for a safe journey. You might also need Close Protection (CP) or Executive Protection (EP) officers, also known as bodyguards. For more on that, please check our sister site at SGT Risk Management.
High-profile celebrities attending public events often have a tall muscular security team. This helps draw attention to the celebrity which gives them some free publicity via newspaper and magazine column inches as well as online.
On the other hand, high-profile businesspeople usually prefer a low-profile security team. This would comprise a secure limo service with an executive protection team that blends in discretely with the protectee.
It’s all about the optics! How it looks to other people.
Optics are down to client preference. At Secure Ground Transportation, we can provide either type of agent – whether high- or low-profile.
For example, a male protectee might benefit from protection by a female EP, as she can be mistaken for an assistant, a sister, or even a mistress! Ask yourself how much attention you pay to a couple walking together in the street or at a public event? As you can tell, a female EP can be an excellent asset for a male protectee.
When we do our advance threat assessment before any engagement, we consider the optics and which of our diverse resources will protect our VIP clients most effectively.
We then work with the VIP’s existing security team to make their experience at any high-profile gathering as safe as it can be.
In the study mentioned above, executives in the technology and financial industries are most frequently targeted, especially male but increasingly female.
Note that it’s not only CEOs who are at risk. COOs, CFOs, founders, presidents, board members and all executive staff can be targeted, while family members at risk of kidnap for ransom.
In December 2024, the CEO of United Healthcare was assassinated – you might remember seeing reports about this in the media.
Brian Thompson was shot dead outside the New York Hilton Midtown hotel. It seems like a grievance killing by a gunman who was angry about the US health insurance system.
For more information, you can read about the case on Wikipedia.
Ever since the murder, executives have become more concerned for their safety and security. As explained, many prefer to blend in rather than attract attention by the size of their executive protection agents.
Our secure drivers are highly trained – they are not ordinary limo drivers. In fact, many of our secure drivers come from Police or military backgrounds. To give you an idea, here are some of the principles of advanced driving which they employ:
Heightened awareness: Secure drivers don’t just focus on what’s immediately in front of them. They also scan ahead, so they can spot risks and opportunities.
Use their mirrors: Secure drivers check what’s behind and to the side as well as what they can see through the front windscreen.
Plan ahead: Secure drivers predict hazards before they happen. They make a plan and stick to it, but remain flexible so they can adapt if necessary.
Judge their speed: Secure drivers choose the right pace for the situation. They don’t necessarily drive fast all the time but if they do it is out of necessity and they have the driving skills to do so safely.
Keep control: Secure drivers read the road and the vehicles around them so they can anticipate and plan manoeuvres safely and easily and maintain full control of their vehicle.
Adapt accordingly: Secure drivers adapt their driving depending on the weather conditions. For example, road surfaces, tyre grip and stopping distances vary on black ice, frost, rain and even shade. Also, anti-lock brakes don’t work as well when descending an icy gradient.
In addition, our drivers are trained first responders (or equivalent) so they can help in medical emergency. In certain locations, our secure cars are fitted with first aid kits, AEDs and a trauma pack.
Businesspeople need to review their risk landscape and potential vulnerabilities of themselves, their families and their assets.
We can help with that by providing a secure limo service comprising secure drivers who are specially trained, plus security cars. In the UK, these will be from our own luxury fleet. Elsewhere, we might use armoured cars, local vehicles, or a Police escort. The level of protection we recommend depends on the level of risk as well as what’s legal in each country where we operate.
For a no-obligation conversation about how our secure limo service can help protect VIPs at high-profile gatherings, please phone Neil or Gary on +44 (0)20 7871 3117, email hello@securegroundtransportation.com or contact us via our website.
By the way, we also provide secure air transportation!
Please see our Events page for examples of some of the high-profile occasions where we transport VIPs.
You might also like to check out some of our other articles, which include:
It’s a sad fact that travelling businesswomen suffer gender-specific safety risks, especially in unfamiliar environments.
Stand out differences between a security driver and a chauffeur
