Gallagher Group in talks with oil firms

The Gallagher Group with expertise in security and access control systems for various sectors, and fuel systems is looking at increasing its presence in India. The group has been active in India providing perimeter security systems for agriculture, high security buildings and access control in large buildings.

It now wants to increase its presence, for which it is looking to tie up with a Chennai-based company, especially for integrated access control and security systems in buildings, Sir William Gallagher, Chairman and Chief Executive of the Hamilton, New Zealand, headquartered group told BusinessLine here recently.

One particular area of interest is vapour recovery systems at fuel dispensing stations, for which it is in talks with the three public sector oil companies – IOC, HPCL and BPCL.

“We will be putting up a trial system for each of these companies in the next two to three months,” said the feisty 76-year-old Sir William.

Vapour recovery in fuel dispensing stations is done at the stage when large tankers offload fuel into underground tanks and also at the dispensers where petrol is filled in vehicles. Vapour recovery helps reduce pollution in the dispensing stations. All fuel filling stations in Delhi have to install vapour recovery systems to reduce pollution.

But, says Sir William, the Gallagher’s vapour recovery systems not only help combat pollution, they payback the oil companies within four years. The payback can happen in one year or in four years, which means, he adds, the return can be 100 per cent if it happens in one year or 25 per cent a year for four years.

He mentioned this to executives of the oil PSUs when he met them when they were talking about the cost of each installation – it could vary between $60,000 and $80,000 – and, he says, their faces lit up and more of the executives joined in the discussion. “The regulators are not interested in economics. They want pollution stopped. But the reality is, if they can fix pollution and make money, nothing like it,” says Sir William.

The Gallagher Group, founded by Bill Gallagher Senior in the 1930s, owes its origin to a horse on Gallagher Senior’s farm which kept scratching itself on a car. Gallagher Senior came up with an electrical circuit that delivered a shock every time the horse tried to rock the car.

That led to the electrical fencing business of the Gallagher Group, from which other businesses such as live animal wiring, perimeter security and access control came about. Its businesses now cover 130 countries and Sir William says he spends 150 days on the road every year, meeting up with his customers and pitching for additional business.

Is he not tired of the travel? “Not at all. It is still a thrill. I don’t do it for money. Money is just a scorecard,” he says. From 10 employees when he joined the Group in 1962, there are now over 1,000 employees, about 120 of them in research and development. The Group’s revenue is about $200 million.

Apart from providing live animal wiring, perimeter security and building access control, the Group uses the strong manufacturing base in India for die castings, among others, according to Sir William.

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