Imperial Security provides a professional key holding service for businesses, property managers and landlords across East Ham. We hold your keys securely off-site and respond in person whenever an alarm activates, a lock fails, or your premises need to be opened or secured outside normal hours
Shop owners on Barking Road and High Street North, managing agents overseeing flats above commercial units, and warehouse operators near the Newham industrial estates all use the service so no one on their own staff has to attend a call-out alone at night.
East Ham's high street is a long, mixed strip of independent shops, takeaways and small offices sitting under residential flats, with the rebuilt Market Hall retail units and Barratt-built flats around New Market Place adding fresh commercial floorspace close to the Underground station. That density means alarm activations and lockouts are frequent but the businesses affected are mostly small, without a facilities team or a director living nearby who can drop everything to attend.
Our key holding service exists for exactly this situation. Rather than asking a shop manager to drive back at 2am or a landlord to leave a spare key with a neighbour, we hold your keys under secure, audited conditions and send a guard to your door as soon as your alarm receiving centre calls us. The same guard can also carry out scheduled opening and locking duties, so your East Ham premises starts and ends the day exactly on time.
7 Day Rolling Contract
No hidden fees, hassle free, Flexible. Not locked into a long-term contract. Easy to scale up or down
Sector Specific Experience
Each security guard is selected based on experience relevant to that specific sector
Street Wise & Vigilant
Local, street-smart expertly trained to protect & deter threats. Confident & observant
| What Our East Ham Key Holding Service Provides
These duties are built around the shops, offices and light industrial units that make up most of East Ham's commercial premises.
Alarm response
We attend every alarm activation at your East Ham premises, whether it is triggered by an intruder, a fault, or a delivery door left ajar, and check the building before anyone else goes in.
Secure key storage
Your keys are logged and stored off-site to British Standard requirements, with a clear chain of custody so only authorised guards can dispatch them for your building.
Lock and unlock services
A guard opens or secures your shop, office or unit at the times you set, so trading hours on Barking Road or High Street North stay consistent even when staff rotas change.
Emergency site attendance
If a break-in, fire or burst pipe puts your premises at risk, we attend to grant access to the fire brigade, police or an approved contractor and stay until the site is secure again.
Routine property checks
Scheduled visits confirm that doors, shutters and windows are secure and that nothing has been left running or unlocked over a weekend or holiday closure.
Incident reporting
Every call-out is logged and reported back to you in writing, so you have a clear record of what happened and when for insurers or head office.
| Who We Provide Key Holding For In East Ham
The service suits any East Ham business that cannot always have someone on hand to answer an out-of-hours call.
Independent retailers
Shops along Barking Road and High Street North rarely have a manager living nearby, so a guard who can reach the unit quickly matters when a shutter alarm goes off overnight.
Managing agents and landlords
Agents overseeing flats above shops and the newer blocks around New Market Place need a key holder who can respond to communal alarms without waking a resident director.
Offices and small businesses
Small offices around East Ham station benefit from scheduled locking and unlocking rather than leaving a spare key with whichever staff member lives closest.
Warehouse and light industrial operators
Units on the industrial roads off Newham Way need a key holder able to attend a perimeter or loading bay alarm and confirm the site before anyone else arrives.
We also support places of worship and community halls across East Ham, many of which hold evening and weekend events without a permanent caretaker on site.
| The Security Problems We Solve In East Ham
East Ham's high street runs long and dense, mixing independent shops with residential flats above and newer retail units around New Market Place, so alarm activations happen regularly but the businesses affected are usually too small to have anyone on call. That gap is what drives most enquiries for key holding here.
No one available to answer an alarm call
Many East Ham traders live outside the area and cannot reach their shop quickly at night. We hold the key and attend in person, so the alarm receiving centre always has a fast, reliable response option on the account.
Staff being sent to unlock alone
Sending a junior member of staff to open up alone before daylight is a real risk on a busy road like Barking Road. A guard carries out the lock and unlock instead, checking the building before anyone else steps inside.
Vacant units and units above shops left unchecked
Flats above commercial premises and units awaiting a new tenant can go unvisited for weeks. Routine key holding checks catch a forced door, a leak or a fault before it becomes a bigger claim.
Spare keys held informally
Keys left with a neighbouring shop or a cleaner create an unmanaged risk with no record of who holds what. Our storage and dispatch process replaces that with a logged, auditable system.
| Why Choose Imperial Security In East Ham
Local operating knowledge
East Ham is served by the District and Hammersmith & City lines from East Ham station, and our guards work the full stretch of Barking Road and High Street North regularly, so they know the layout of the shopfronts, shutters and side accesses they are attending.
We cover East Ham and the surrounding E6 and E12 postcodes, including Upton Park and Beckton.
One point of contact
You deal with the same key holding team each time rather than a different call handler for every incident, so instructions about your premises are not repeated from scratch on every call-out.
Vetting, licensing and insurance
Every guard we place on an East Ham assignment meets our company standards.
- Valid SIA licensing: appropriate to the role & verified qualifications
- BS 7858 compliant vetting: five-year employment & education history
- Enhanced DBS checks: The level appropriate for your sector
- Professional reference verification: All previous security employers
- Insurance: Public liability, employers' liability & professional indemnity
- First aid trained: Emergency response & CPR certified
- ACT counter-terrorism awareness training: Threat recognition & response certified
| How Our East Ham Service Operates
01
Site survey and handover
We visit your East Ham premises to record entry points, alarm codes and any special instructions before taking on the key holding brief.
02
Secure key registration
Your keys are logged, tagged and stored off-site under controlled access, ready for dispatch the moment they are needed.
03
Alarm receiving centre link-up
We register as your nominated key holder with your alarm receiving centre so a guard is dispatched directly on any activation.
04
Rapid response and building check
A guard travels to your East Ham premises, checks the building inside and out, and only enters once it is safe to do so.
05
Making the site secure
Once the premises is confirmed safe, the guard resets the alarm, secures any open doors or shutters, and arranges emergency repairs if needed.
06
Reporting back to you
You receive a written report of every attendance, so you have a clear record for your own files or your insurer.
Get your free East Ham key holding quote
Send us your address or postcode, the type of building, when you want the service to start, your opening hours, how many entrances need covering, and what prompted your enquiry.
Call us on 0208 088 2878, or send your details through the quote form and we will come back to you with a written proposal.
Related services and nearby areas
See our full service page on key holding, or other cover in the area: all East Ham security services, retail security in East Ham, warehouse security in East Ham, key holding in Upton Park, key holding in Newham, key holding in Barking.