The Welcome People

What The Welcome People does

The Welcome People is a UK-based street management and public-realm services company founded in 2011 in London by David Miller and Calvin LaCock. It provides visitor welcome (street ambassadors in distinctive bowler hats and three-piece suits), security, and cleaning services, primarily to Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) and private landowners across 22+ UK destinations. The company serves more than 7 million visitors annually with a deployed team of 150+ staff.

Its core proprietary technology is STRATA, a mobile application and back-office dashboard that enables real-time data capture, incident reporting, and operational management of street teams across multiple locations. The platform underpins multi-service delivery across the welcome, security, and cleaning verticals and represents the company's main technology differentiator in a labour-intensive sector. The company holds ISO 9001, SIA, and Investors in People certifications, which act as procurement gatekeepers in its target verticals.

The business model is B2B services revenue under multi-year contracts with BIDs (aligned to 5-year ballot cycles) and private landowners. The company is bootstrapped and privately held by its founding directors, with no external funding disclosed. Geographic expansion has been measured — from a single London base to 22+ UK destinations including Belfast — and service-line expansion has occurred in two deliberate steps (security in 2015, cleaning in 2017), indicating a disciplined, contract-led growth posture rather than venture-scaled expansion.

Name

The Welcome People

Legal name

The Welcome People Limited

Website

https://thewelcomepeople.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

The Welcome People is a UK-based street management company, founded in 2011, that provides visitor welcome, security, and cleaning services to Business Improvement Districts and private landowners across 22+ locations using its proprietary STRATA platform and 150+ deployed staff.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Street Management Services Contracts: The company generates revenue through service contracts with Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) and private landowners. Services include ambassador/welcome services, security services, and cleaning/janitorial services. Contracts are typically multi-year agreements based on BID ballot cycles (e.g., 5-year BID terms). Revenue is recurring and based on contracted service provision across designated geographic areas.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Welcome People provides integrated street management services to Business Improvement Districts and private landowners across the UK. Its core offering is the Ambassador Programme — hospitality-trained personnel in distinctive bowler hats and three-piece suits delivering visitor welcome, wayfinding, stakeholder engagement, and environmental issue reporting — complemented by SIA-licensed security officers (The Security People) and street cleaning/janitorial teams. All services are coordinated through the proprietary STRATA mobile application, which provides real-time data capture, SLA tracking, and analytics for clients.

Product overview

The Welcome People provides an integrated street management and placemaking service delivered through a portfolio of coordinated offerings. The core of the business is the award-winning Ambassador Programme — personnel-based visitor welcome, stakeholder engagement, and environmental reporting — supported by a proprietary mobile platform called STRATA, which handles real-time data capture, issue management, SLA tracking, and analytics across all service lines. The company has expanded beyond ambassadors to include Security Services (The Security People) and Cleaning & Janitorial Services, all of which are managed and reported through the STRATA platform. Together, these services serve Business Improvement Districts and private landowners across the UK.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• STRATA: Bespoke street management mobile app for Business Improvement Districts, enabling real-time data capture, issue reporting, stakeholder communication, and performance tracking.

Products and services

• Ambassador Programme

Quantifiable outcome

• Doubled customer interactions in first year of operation
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers23 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Business Improvement Districts (BIDs)coreOthersThe company's primary client base consists of Business Improvement Districts across the UK. BIDs are not-for-profit organisations funded by local businesses to improve commercial areas. The Welcome People provides comprehensive street management services including ambassador programmes, security, and cleaning. The company operates with 22+ BID clients including Victoria BID, Heart of Manchester BID, Colmore BID, Leeds BID, Canterbury Connected BID, and many others.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Mitie Group plc: Major UK-based facilities management and security services provider offering integrated cleaning, security and front-of-house services to commercial estates and public spaces. Directly comparable to The Welcome People's bundled Clean-Safe-Welcome offering to BIDs and private landowners.
• Atalian Servest: UK and European facilities services group delivering cleaning, security and front-of-house services to commercial property owners. Comparable in serving the same BID and landlord client base with bundled service lines.
• ABM Industries: US-headquartered integrated facility services provider with a dedicated Business Improvement District practice delivering ambassador, cleaning and security services. Most functionally comparable peer for The Welcome People's BID-focused model, though US-centric.
• OCS Group: International FM group with strong UK presence in cleaning, security and customer-service staffing for commercial real estate and public spaces. Comparable business model — multi-year contracts, integrated service lines, branded front-of-house personnel.

Broad incumbents

• Securitas AB: Global security services provider with UK footprint delivering licensed guarding and integrated security. Comparable security-officer offering but broader international portfolio.
• G4S / Allied Universal: Global security services giant with substantial UK operations. Overlaps with The Security People division on licensed security officer provision but operates at much greater scale across multiple verticals.
• Serco Group plc: UK public services outsourcer with adjacent capabilities in street, environmental and security services for municipalities. Comparable in BID/local-authority customer profile but broader and primarily government-focused.
• Compass Group UK & Ireland: Largest UK contract services group with overlapping capabilities in cleaning, security and workplace services. Overlaps with The Welcome People in commercial property services but is vastly larger and more diversified.
• Sodexo UK: Global FM and quality-of-life services group with significant UK presence in workplace services, cleaning and security. Comparable service mix but operates across a much broader portfolio and is not specialized in the BID / street management niche.

Emerging players

• Nationwide Cleaning & Support Services: UK-based specialist cleaning and support services provider to commercial property, retail and BID clients. Comparable on the cleaning component of The Welcome People's service bundle though narrower in scope.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/welcome_people

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Welcome People