British multinational G4S, which was formed in 2004 after a merger between London based Securicor and Danish firm Group 4 Falck, has been dogged by controversy in recent years.
The firm, based in Crawley, operates in more than 90 countries and has more than 570,000 employees, and has been at the centre of accusations of mismanagement and malpractice.
In 2012, they were embroiled in controversy surrounding the London Olympics over its handling of security for the event.
The firm was contracted to provide more than half of the near 24,000 security staff required for the event but, only 16 days before the Games began, it admitted it had not managed to recruit enough people.
G4S was contracted to provide more than half of the 24,000 security staff required for the London Olympics, but days before the event began it admitted it did not have enough staff and military personnel had to be drafted in
It meant an extra 3,500 military personnel had to be drafted in.
G4S’s then head, Nick Buckles, described the situation as a ‘humiliating shambles’ when he appeared before a parliamentary committee.
The following year it emerged they had been overcharging the Ministry of Justice for the electronic tagging of criminals. It was forced to pay back £109million.
In October 2010, 46-year-old Jimmy Mubenga died from a heart attack while he was being restrained by three G4S security guards on a deportation flight bound for Angola after he served a tywo year sentence for assault.
Last year the Ministry of Justice had to take control of HMP Birmingham back from G4S after a damning report into conditions in the privately-run prison. Pictured: Riot police outside the jail after a disturbance in 2016
In July 2013, an inquest jury said that Mr Mubenga was unlawfully killed by the guards restraining him.
In September 2017, nine members of staff were suspended from the Brook House immigration centre near Gatwick Airport, which was run by G4S.
In October 2010, 46-year-old Jimmy Mubenga (pictured with wife Adrienne Makenda Kambana) died from a heart attack while he was being restrained by three G4S security guards on a deportation flight bound for Angola
An investigation for the BBC’s Panorama recorded employees ‘assualting and abusing’ detainees.
In 2015 there another Panorama probe sparked criminal proceedings against eight staff who worked at the Medway Secure Training Centre – a prison for young people.
In May 2016, G4S handed control of the youth jail back to the Ministry of Justice.
Last year the Ministry of Justice had to take control of HMP Birmingham after a damning report into conditions in the privately-run prison.
It became the UK’s first public jail to enter private hands when G4S was awarded a 15-year contract to operate it in 2011.
Peter Clarke, the chief inspector of prisons, reported a ‘dramatic decline’ in standards since HMP Birmingham was last assessed in February 2017.
It had earlier emerged that G4S spent £500,000 on changing locks at the prison after guards lost all the keys – just days after it took control of the jail.