Securiton drives scalability and cost efficiency with a dedicated team

Securiton’s collaboration with our team is not a recent development. We’ve worked closely together for over a decade, and over time, mutual trust has developed, both professionally and personally.

As resource scalability challenges intensified due to increased project demand, the talent shortage, and international growth plans, Securiton decided to explore a new form of collaboration with us, one that prioritised not only scalability but also long-term integration, continuity, and cultural alignment.

Securiton began evaluating various models. The initial idea was to follow a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) approach. But the company placed high value on a sustainable implementation that extended beyond conventional nearshoring. They sought a model built for the long term. Several countries were considered, and different providers were evaluated.

Ultimately, Securiton chose to pursue the partnership with Zühlke. The bold element? Although we were already operating the desired nearshore location in Portugal, we had not yet offered the proposed collaboration model in the form Securiton wanted at that time.

“We nevertheless decided to embark on this journey with Zühlke. They compensated for the lack of prior experience in this exact model with two strengths: the ability to build strong teams in new markets, and genuine passion in our collaboration,” explains Jörg Furrer, Head of Research and Development at Securiton AG, “for both sides, aspects of this journey were uncharted territory – but we complemented each other, filled in existing knowledge gaps with our respective strengths, and learned together.”

The central question for Securiton at the outset was, how can a team be built that does not operate like an external service provider, but thinks like part of the company? A team optimised not for short-term utilisation but for long-term collaboration?

And so the journey began in a structured way, and with openness to learn along the way. Both sides made meaningful investments in recruitment processes, team structures, contract models, and, crucially, a shared understanding.

This mutual understanding and transparent communication within clear structures are, for Jörg Furrer, one of the keys to the successful collaboration with Zühlke: “What unites us is the commitment to finding joint solutions at every level. And it works because we raise issues early and collaboratively improve anything that isn’t quite right.”

Operational and management boards, regular exchanges, and an open communication culture prove especially valuable when things don’t go according to plan.

Instead of the originally envisaged BOT model, a dedicated team of around 20 Zühlke professionals in Porto (Portugal) now works full-time on Securiton projects – fully integrated, stable, and with high continuity. According to Jörg Furrer, building a comparable team within four years in Switzerland would have been virtually impossible, even if they had wanted to.

This dedicated team is not an isolated unit – it is part of a cross-location, blended setup within Securiton, alongside colleagues in Switzerland, Serbia, and Portugal. This structure ensures effective knowledge transfer, efficient coordination, and shared product ownership. In day-to-day work, the focus is no longer on where someone is based, but rather on how to create the best solutions together. And that applies not only within Securiton, but also in collaboration with Zühlke.

Another often underestimated factor in international setups, especially in dedicated team models, is cultural integration. At Securiton, this is not achieved through formal programmes, but through shared values.

“Whether conversations happen in Serbia, Portugal or Switzerland – the exchange is rooted in the same values. The collaboration feels familiar. It always feels like Zühlke,” says Furrer.

This is no coincidence but the result of careful team selection thorough onboarding and a shared vision of what strong teamwork looks like.

The dedicated team in Portugal has become a central pillar of Securiton’s development strategy. The current focus is on consolidation: refining processes, stabilising team structures, and providing individual development opportunities to keep staff turnover low.
Interest is also growing across the Swiss Securitas Group as other entities are exploring whether similar models might suit their needs. The foundation has been laid.

At the same time, the model remains dynamic. Should market conditions change, Securiton can draw on our international setup, with further nearshore locations across Europe and Asia.

What began as a bold move by Securiton and the evolution of an existing partnership has matured into a strategic, successful model. This success is not the result of textbook methodology, but of shared commitment and the collective drive to shape solutions together.

For Securiton, it is now a firmly embedded part of its development strategy: efficient, stable, people-centric, and open to the next chapter within the Swiss Securitas Group.