CIA's Over 40 Year History

It all started back in the mid 1960s when, having finished his apprenticeship as an electronics engineer, Barrie Christie was asked to install a burglar alarm as a nominal favour for a business friend who had a chain of 27 shops.

His reputation quickly spread and it wasn't long before he was being recommended by insurance companies and on the list of Police approved burglar alarm installers.

So in 1967 he decided to go into partnership with his wife, Janet. In 1970 they registered the name Christie Intruder Alarms Ltd and Janet designed the "crooked man" logo which is so widely recognised today. In 1971, they moved into their first office which was not much bigger than a cupboard.

From these modest beginnings, the company has grown to be the largest independent intruder alarm company in the UK.

In 1983, the company commissioned purpose built offices in Waterlooville and, in 1985, another office block was built on the site for sister company - Southern Monitoring Services Ltd - now the third largest Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC) in the UK, and the largest independent ARC in Europe. Together, the two companies currently employ almost 300 staff.

No one cares more for customer service and quality of engineering than Barrie Christie. His favourite saying is "Never worry if someone is cheaper than us. Worry if someone is better." The company's philosophy has always been forward thinking and bold. CIA prides itself on innovation, staying ahead of the current trends in technology, and places great emphasis on apprenticeship, training and staff development.

In fact, one of our first apprentices, Steve Kimber, is now the Managing Director of Christie Intruder Alarms and both Southern and Northern Monitoring Services.

Steve joined CIA straight from school in 1974. Having qualified as an engineer by gaining his City & Guild in Electronics at Highbury College as a day release student, he went on to become a supervisor before moving into alarm monitoring and was appointed General Manager of Southern Monitoring Services Ltd in 1983.

He was promoted to Managing Director in 1987 and in 2000 he also became the Managing Director of CIA. It is due to Steve's foresight, knowledge and hard work that the Group successfully launched a second Alarm Receiving Centre - Northern Monitoring Services - in Manchester in 2004, of which he is also Managing Director.

Steve is well respected in the industry, sitting on various national committees and councils including;

Chairman of the FSA (Fire and Security Association)
ECA (Electrical Contractors' Association) Council Member - representing the FSA
Director of ELECSA the ECA’s certification body
The NSI's (National Security Inspectorate's) Security Systems Sector Committee Member
The NSI's Fire Systems Sector Committee Member
British Standards Institution Member - representing the Security Industry on various BSI Committees

He also sits on various ad hoc technical working groups associated with FSA, ECA, FPA (Fire Protection Association), SSAIB (Security Systems and Alarms Inspection Board), NSI or BSI and represents the Security Industry through the FSA to ACPO, ABI, Home Office & the SIA.

In 2010, Capital Security Systems, Gardner Security and State Digital Security, the three subsidiaries which had been acquired during the previous decade, were amalgamated with Christie Intruder Alarms Ltd, making CIA the largest privately owned security company in the UK (read more).

Barrie and Janet are still involved with the daily running of the company along with their daughter Gail who, with an MA in Marketing, is the Marketing Manager and son Antony who is responsible for the website and developing e-commerce.

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