Top Gun

TRAILBLAZER

Security concerns are rising for everyone, and that's the bottomline for Diwan Rahul Nanda, chairman & MD, Topsgrup. He claims to be the No. 1 total security solutions provider in India, and Nanda is really talking and thinking big right now. He's announced his decision to acquire majority stake in a top U.K -based security firm, and says he will completely own it within the next two years.

But that's not how it has always been like. I had to think of livelihood issues when I was 15 years, when most other kids my age were deciding on their education stream. This was because my father, Major R.C. Nanda (Retd.), suffered a paralytic stroke in the late Eighties. He had taken premature retirement and started Tops Security Guards in 1970 -- in an era when private security was unheard of. The firm grew on to become a leader in the security industry in Mumbai and Ahmedabad. However, a draconian rule called The Maharashtra Private Security Guards (Regulation & Welfare) Act, 1981, put paid to the company's future -- and most other businesses in the fray suffered as well.

So, I had to think hard, and fast. I started Tutkuks in 1991, a Chinese restaurant in Mumbai. It did well, however, I grew restless. I am dynamic, and I really did not fancy being restricted by space constraint. I wanted to do something where I would not be hemmed in. I decided to revive my family business that was languishing. Armed with a second-hand Jawa bike I was on the road again. Meanwhile, things in private security business had really deteriorated; it was riddled with players who openly violated laws and endorsed 'strong arm' tactics. My biggest hurdle was being considered a rookie at 21 years, and I lacked references. People refused to buy my claim that we were 22-years old in the business. I decided then, that I had to carve a name for Tops. Oh, by the way, we have a patent on the name! But I will come to that later.

I decided to do things very different. I did away with the boring khakhi uniforms and opted for bright work gear, unions were flourishing and nearly all security companies were unionised. So I decided to recruit my people well, doing police checks, put them through rigourous training and pay them well. We, for the first time, had a private security firm that was not unionised. At that point we were just earning Rs 58 lakh and had 83 people on board. Today, we are a pan-India group with over 30,000 people. In 1995 we become public limited company. Along the way we have set many benchmarks. For instance, we took on marine patrolling, introduce a countrywide radio trunking networking service in 1997.

In 1998 we launched a copyright and Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement division called Topscaipre©T for curbing industrial, commercial and film and audio piracy. I love being radical, next year we offered the first, free-of-cost, Rs 1-crore insurance cover to our clients. Around the same time we also launched our website as our activities had really grown. We were also the first Indian company to be awarded the coveted ISO 9002 certification from ANSI- RAB (USA) through KPMG-QR in 2000. Touchwood, progress for us did not stop here and in 2002 we introduced 'Global Positioning System' in armored trucks for cash management services division, and were engaged by the government authorities for patrolling highways and motorways. In 2003, we were the first in our business to be awarded the ISO 9001:2000 certification from KPMG QR through RvA, Dutch Council of Accreditation.

Today, most MNCs take our security help and we are looking at a organic growth in turnover where we will close this year with Rs 330 crore. However, we are in the process of inking a deal with a top U.K-based security firm that will give us a combined turnover of around Rs 1000 crore. We are looking at becoming a Rs 5000-crore group in the next seven years. We also thinking of going public next year. All I can say is that hard work and the will to do something is the only route to success.