Al Manal Security General Manager Tasadduque Hussain Shah says that while the Wafi Mall robbery may have been a "one-off" it shows that Dubai has targets of major interest to the criminal fraternity.

"A strong security presence is often all that it takes to make criminals look for easier picking elsewhere," he says.

Al Manal Security, which was formed by Mr Marwan Ahmed Majid Al Ghurair and Mr Juma Ahmad Majid Al Ghurair, in January last year, will now provide security services to Jacky's Electronics and the Sharjah Co-ops.

"Annual turnover is now expected to be more than 8 million dirham with more potential contracts under negotiation" says Mr Shah.

"Al Manal Security is working on being the market leader to fulfil all the potential clients' needs. We travel internationally to find the best staff and put a lot of effort into the training of our security personnel. Even once they are trained we constantly upgrade their skills with quarterly refresher courses" Mr shah continues "All of our people are carefully checked before we employ them and they are trained to standards set by Dubai police. Despite our rigorous background checks and training there is no shortage of people wanting to work for us because of our policy of paying above average salaries and providing good accommodation, uniforms, laundry service and free visas"

While the company's current focus is mainly on providing security guards to shopping malls, commercial complexes, plants, schools and construction sites it plans to enter other areas of security such as cash in transit and security equipment in the future.

"As with our basic security services, we will make sure that we can deliver what we promise before we venture into any new areas. This is one business where you must be sure that you've got it right first time" Mr Shah concludes.