This article originally appeared in the July 2024 issue of Security Business magazine. Don’t forget to mention Security Business magazine on LinkedIn and @SecBusinessMag on Twitter if you share it.
Anyone familiar with the world of alarm companies, security integration, and fire protection has come to know the name Pye-Barker. After all, when the company’s name has seemingly been in the news every week for three years now, you tend to know about it – whether you want to or not.
In fact, when I arrived at ESX in June, I was immediately informed of a “rumor” that longtime family alarm business Bates Security was in Pye-Barker’s proverbial on-deck circle. Of course, the rumors were 100% true.
As a company that has acquired (by my count) 35 alarm and security companies since its watershed acquisition of Mountain Alarm in December of 2021, you couldn’t blame me for envisioning Pye-Barker as a machine-like version of M&A Pacman, laser-focused on gobbling up companies like they were blue ghosts in its way.
That vision all changed the day I got to sit down and actually chat with Eric Garner. It gave me a chance to truly put a human face to the "Pacman" persona, and he was nothing like I’d imagined. This man wasn’t some Darth Vader-like business powerhouse demanding all companies “join me or die” – he was more of a down-to-earth guy who would welcome you to his home for a Sunday dinner or be perfectly welcome at my own.
Of course, I was prepared with questions that tended to further the Pacman/Darth Vader narrative. I had just heard that Pye-Barker was acquiring Bates, which would be the company’s seventh alarm company acquisition since April 30, so I asked him straight-out: “What’s the master plan?”
I expected (maybe hoped) that he would simply say, “World domination” – perhaps adding in a “search your feelings, you know it to be true” for good measure.
Instead, I got: “We're not focused on getting the absolute best deal. We're not focused on cutting costs and saving money. We're focused on buying the absolute best companies. This year, you've seen an increase in activity because some of the best companies in our industry have been interested in having a conversation.”
Garner went on to share with me his compelling journey in the industry as the second-generation leader of a family company. Eventually, that journey led to a top position with Pye-Barker. But Garner’s goal is to maintain the family business feel.
“Every time we buy a company and I meet the team, I say, ‘Welcome to Pye-Barker, you are now part of the biggest family business in America,’” Garner says. “Today, we're made up of 150 acquisitions, and we've got over 200 locations, but we're made up of all family businesses. A lot of times family businesses think if they sell the business, it is no longer a family business. The reality is, if you sell your business to Pye-Barker, it's still a family business. We try to take [all the back-office functions] off your plate, so all you have to focus on is taking care of your customers and growing the business. That's our goal.”
By chance, I ran into Jeremy Bates on the ESX show floor the same day. He was beaming, probably because his family business would continue being just that.
In the end, it helps to “put a face to the name” when it comes to news-making companies like Pye-Barker. You can do it yourself by listening to my full chat with Eric Garner on the SecurityDNA Podcast: www.securityinfowatch.com/55056754.
