Partner Article

Whistle-blowing firm a Safe bet for investment

A Sunderland-based whistle-blowing business has been bought by a London investment giant. Safecall has been bought by the LDC Trust Management Limited, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Law Debenture Corporation PLC.

Since 1999 Safecall has provided an independent 24/7 outsourced whistle-blowing service to major public and private sector organisations. Its reporting line allows client employees to confidentially report problems in the workplace, including corporate governance, fraud, dishonesty, harassment, bullying and discrimination. As a result employers are able to address potentially serious problems within their organisations at an early stage.

Caroline Banszky, Managing Director of Law Debenture, said: “Safecall will be an exciting addition to our portfolio of professional services and plays to our strengths as an independent, professional, third party service provider. “As acknowledged in the Combined Code on Corporate Governance, whistle blowing is an important safeguard and Safecall will enable Law Debenture to offer a comprehensive service in this fast growing market.”

Graham Long, Safecall Managing Director, said: “Eight years ago we moved into the incubation suites at the BIC [North East Business Innovation Centre] as a start-up business with not one client - The support and assistance of the BIC during the early period was hugely significant.”

All of the employees who staff Safecall’s whistle-blowing lines are former police officers, a factor which LDC highlighted as important in their decision to invest, as many competitors’ operations are often call-centre based.

Whilst Law Debenture is based in the City of London, Safecall will remain in the North East at their BIC headquarters.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .