HESCO is an innovator and world leader in rapidly deployable protective barrier systems. We engineer products that inspire confidence in multiple uses in military, security and environmental applications.
We have delivered security solutions to customers around the globe, protecting people, property and environments from a wide range of natural and man-made threats.
HESCO barriers began with the idea of one man: Jimi Heselden. He needed to protect a property that was in danger of being destroyed by fierce storms on the coast of North Yorkshire, UK, and he developed a wire-mesh gabion system that allowed him to construct the protective wall that saved the property. This innovation would become the HESCO Concertainer Unit, the design principles of which are behind all our barrier and fencing products today. Acknowledged as the most significant development in field fortification since WWII, HESCO Concertainer has saved countless lives and millions of dollars of equipment and assets.
While the success of HESCO products in military applications endures, the company has expanded naturally into the security sector. HESCO products have also been instrumental in protecting people, property and infrastructure from weather events since 2004, work that has drawn attention from many countries that suffer from regular climatic events, such as storms and flooding.
As we continue to develop new applications and innovations for defensive and protective systems, the innovative spirit of Jimi Heselden, OBE, lives on in the company and in our products.
History
HESCO was founded by the renowned industrialist and philanthropist, Jimi Heselden. Originally a coal miner, the mining industry's decline in the UK in the 1980s presented Jimi with the opportunity to fulfill his destiny: to become an inventor. In 1990, Jimi appeared in a BBC television report to discuss his new idea to stop coastal erosion threatening his home. It was the first incarnation of his innovation that developed into the HESCO Concertainer barrier system.
Soon after the invention of the Concertainer principle and the first HESCO barriers, the UK MOD identified their potential to be used in a military expeditionary context. In 1991 HESCO units were deployed during the first Gulf War, primarily as protective barriers for ammunition storage and fuel supplies.
It was the 1996 the Khobar Towers attack that prompted William S. Cohen, the incoming US Secretary of Defense, to launch a global search for new force-protection technologies. The HESCO barrier emerged as the technology of choice. From that moment HESCO barriers would be used to protect the personnel and assets of the US Military across the world.
The 2003 invasion of Iraq by Coalition Forces created the requirement for protective structures that would mitigate the effects of attack from unconventional insurgent weapons, such as Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices and mortars. HESCO barriers were selected as the most appropriate solution for use in this environment, due to their speed of deployment, flexibility of design and proven protection capabilities.
The war in Afghanistan saw the continued use of HESCO barriers, due to the expeditionary nature of the ISAF operations and the supply chain capabilities HESCO were able to offer.
In 2004 a new product emerged, the HESCO flood wall. Hurricane season was fast approaching around New Orleans and levees in and around the area no longer met US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Category 3 Storm Protection requirements. East Jefferson Levee District began searching for quick, reliable and temporary solutions to elevate the subsided levees, until a permanent, earthen rise could be completed. From their experience in the field, USACE chose HESCO. The Concertainer design, now synonymous with force protection in the military arena, had undergone extreme testing against rising floodwaters and proven to be an ideal solution for emergency flood barriers.
By the 2005 Hurricane season the majority of earthen levees had been completed, but a few critical sections still relied on the existing HESCO units. As Hurricane Katrina approached, HESCO would face the ultimate test. Lake Pontchartrain swelled and crashed waves and debris against the baskets and the devastating storm surge moved toward Jefferson Parish; the only thing standing in the way of Category 3 winds and the large waves were HESCO flood barriers - they held. Since this display of proficiency, HESCO flood barriers have been used annually throughout the United States, during hurricanes, tropical storms and a 500-year flood.
By 2012 the product development team at HESCO had created a new range of civil security barriers enabling governments, corporations and private businesses to protect critical assets from varying threats. The London Olympic Games saw HESCO barriers protecting key areas, such as ExCel, the North Greenwich Arena and Wembley.
Since its initial adoption by the military as a protective barrier, HESCO has protected people and critical assets around the world, through a range of applications, saving countless lives and millions of dollars.
Mission and Values
At HESCO our mission is the protection of people and assets against destructive natural and man-made forces, whenever and wherever we are needed.
Our values:
We act with integrity
We value innovation
We strive to be responsive
Corporate Governance
HESCO is committed to maintaining the highest standards of corporate governance.
As a privately owned business the board of directors act in good faith and in the best interest of all its stakeholders. The management considers that applying good corporate governance helps to underpin the long term performance of the company thereby achieving the objective of maximising shareholder value whilst balancing the interest of all stakeholders.
The board is responsible for the success of the company through its guidance and monitoring of business activities. This is achieved through the formulation, delivery and review of the company’s operating strategy, monitoring and assessing the financial performance and business opportunities of the company and reporting regularly to its shareholders.
The overall system of procedures and internal controls across the business contributes to the effective corporate governance of the Company and includes:
- Complying with all company law requirements;
- Acting with integrity;
- Demonstrating leadership;
- Making timely and transparent decisions;
- Managing risk through continually assessed internal controls;
- Effective resource allocation;
- Working closely with all our stakeholders; and
- Operating in an open and honest manner.
Good governance is promoted as the responsibility of everyone at HESCO.
Locations
HESCO has office and manufacturing centers in the the United Kingdom and the United States. Each has its own range of activities, but they are in daily contact with each other to ensure all our customers, all over the world, receive the service they need. Below is a brief outline of the each location's activities and you can find information on how to contact them from there.
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