A HEREFORDSHIRE company playing a key role in the fight against pirates in the Indian Ocean and other global troublespots, has become one of the fastest growing companies in the UK.

Brockhampton-based Ambrey Risk, formed in 2011 and specialising in maritime security, brought in £23.3 million in 2014 and recorded a 175% surge in business in the last three years.

The performance means the Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100 placed the South Herefordshire firm as the eighth fastest growing private company in the UK and top in the West Midlands.

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WHEN it comes to tackling pirates, few firms are a patch on Ambrey Risk.

The county company specialising in maritime security is ranked among the fastest growing in the UK just four years after being founded as “three men and a dog.”

Ambrey’s remarkable rise through the highly competitive security and risk management market is buoyed by one of the county’s greatest resources - specialist ex-service personnel.

Now it has wider horizons in its sights with the success of its programmes to prepare former military men and women for a future beyond the forces.

This week, the Brockhampton- based firm was saluted as one of Britain’s best business performers.

A place on the Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100 confirmed the company as the eighth fastest growing in the UK and first fastest in the West Midlands.

The table ranks private firms on sales over three years and shows Ambrey’s as rising by an average 175% a year to £23.3 million in 2014.

Last month, Ambrey secured its place as a global player with the buying of a big competitor to become one of the leading providers of private maritime security services, signed up to long-term contracts with major international shipping companies, plying piracy hotspots like the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean.

Though the company made its name as an antipiracy specialist, a training and protective services division recognised as industry leading has helped its turnover grow nearly 22- fold since 2011.

A year earlier, Ambrey was in a backroom on stakes of £5,000 each said founder, and now senior advisor, John Thompson.

Today, it runs operations worldwide from an HQ at Brockhampton with offices and representation in Dubai, India, Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea.

Sixty staff are full-time with up to 300 operatives deployed at any one time. All told, around 600 operatives are trained and ready for deployment.

UK Managing director James Gasson-Hargreaves, said the Fast Track ranking recognised “hard work and achievements” in a crowded market.

For all its success, Ambrey is proud of what it can do to re-train former service personnel for a future beyond the forces.

Mick Clifford , training director, said:“We are very proud of our pass rate, with many of those that attend the City & Guilds taking up tasks with Ambrey.”