INSIGHT: Poacher turned gamekeeper
Mario Garcia talks to Essex Director
“My vision for Achilleus has always been simple: keep people safe, create a company people are proud to work for,
and deliver a great service for clients.”
Interview: Sue Wilcock | Martine Silkstone
Pictures: Warren Page
Growing up, it’s fair to say that Mario Garcia was a bit of a tearaway – always strong-willed and outspoken, often getting into “scrapes” and sometimes running with the wrong crowd. But even during those young, wild years, he was still, at heart, a grafter and budding entrepreneur.
As a child, he would find different ways to earn money, doing all the jobs that nobody else wanted to do, whether it was painting fences, emptying bottle banks or cleaning up after the dogs at his local greyhound track. And by his early teens, despite an occasional tangle with police, he was already dabbling in his own business ideas.
Today, that same innate drive and resourcefulness – inherited from his father perhaps (more on that later) – has seen him establish and grow the highly respected, Essex-based company: Achilleus Security.
Working alongside his wife and Co-Director, Cathy, Mario provides a wide range of professional security services from offices in Waltham Abbey, Colchester and across the region, delivering tailored solutions for commercial, industrial and event-sector clients.
Yes, having had a somewhat troubled youth, Mario is now using all the insight gained on his life’s journey to keep people safe.
“I’m a poacher turned gamekeeper,” he smiles.
In many cases, quite literally a ‘game’ keeper.
Achilleus has become well-known as a specialist provider for security, stewarding and crowd management at major sporting and entertainment events, with clients including Premier League Football teams, Twickenham, Wembley Stadium and even London 2012.
In fact, you may know them as the Official Security Partner for Essex County Cricket Club, Colchester United and Ipswich Town FC.
It’s an impressive client list by any measure. So, was that always the goal (pun intended)?
“My vision for Achilleus has always been simple: keep people safe, create a company people are proud to work for, and deliver a great service for clients. It has never been just about making money. Everything we do comes back to people and safety.
“The journey hasn’t always been smooth,” he adds. “There have been setbacks along the way and I’ve learnt some very hard lessons over the years. But those experiences also make you more resilient, more self-aware and more focused on what really matters. And that’s what gets me up in the morning – the belief that things can always be done better.
“There are weekends now where our teams are involved in environments with hundreds of thousands of interactions between staff, supporters and members of the public. Knowing that people go home safely afterwards, and we have played even a small part in creating that safe environment, means a great deal to me.”
Where it all began
In February 1967, Mario Garcia was born at the Alexandra Palace Maternity Hospital in London. The family were living in the city at the time, but later moved to Maidstone, and then to Essex when Mario was 11 years old.
Also an entrepreneur at heart, his father had bought a run-down nightclub in West Mersea; a nightclub he then transformed into a successful music venue and restaurant.
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, it seems.
“My dad was an incredible character,” Mario says proudly. “He could turn his hand to almost anything. He’d been a chef, an entertainer, a tailor, and even trained greyhounds. He was just one of those people with natural ability and drive. But his dream had always been to build something of his own, so when he spotted the nightclub for sale, he went all in on it.
“I still remember the conversations between my mum and dad about whether to take the risk. And when they did, it wasn’t always easy; family life could be emotionally difficult at times. But growing up in that environment taught me a huge amount about people, business, hard work and resilience.”
Looking back, Mario describes his younger self as curious, restless and easily bored. Always wanting to be outside, he would often play on the beach or “mess about on bikes” or, whenever possible, head to the local green for a game of football. He had – and still has – a huge passion for the game and, despite having knee problems, he would usually end up in goal, much like his hero, Peter Shilton.
But it wasn’t all fun and games. From the age of eight, he also kept himself busy by finding paid jobs over the summer, whether it was feeding and walking dogs at his local greyhound track, cleaning kennels or painting the fence for £5 to buy Airfix kits. Later, he also worked in his father’s club, and by his early teens he had started “dabbling” in his own business ideas, including a stint as a DJ at 14.
But while the seeds of his future as an entrepreneur had been firmly planted, at school, things were proving more difficult.
Though he enjoyed art, metalwork and English, he says he wasn’t “particularly academic” and would often get into trouble. He describes those moments as “occasional scrapes”, but that is an understatement. His “scrapes” included fighting and truancy. And, at 13, a misunderstanding over a replica gun he had brought into school for polishing (with his metal work teacher’s permission) even saw him briefly being arrested. He was handcuffed and marched out of school, then when he was later released, his mother had to collect him from Colchester Police Station (and not for the last time).
“School and I never really clicked,” he says smiling wryly. “It didn’t challenge me, other than the discipline, so I was often bored and disruptive. Some teachers openly told me I’d never amount to anything, but that probably motivated me more than they realised.”
Another big influence in Mario’s life was the local youth club and the people who ran it: Doug and Sue Powell. West Mersea was a quiet town and, while going through a difficult period with his father and occasionally “running with the wrong crowd”, the club provided, the club provided Mario with a constructive outlet for his energy and a strong male role model that he deeply respected.
The result, he says, was both life-changing and lifesaving.
“They had a far bigger impact on me than they ever realised,” he declares. “At that age I was a restless, rebellious and argumentative teenager, and not always making the best decisions. But I respected them and cared what they thought.
“Honestly, without those two wonderful people in my life, I could easily have gone down a different path and made some poor decisions that could have had lifelong consequences.”
Better choices
When it came to his choice of career, Mario had lots of ideas growing up. At one stage he was thinking about joining the police, and for a short period even considered the army, going to the recruitment office at one point to sign up but turning away at the last minute having realised it wasn’t for him. Ultimately, at the age of 15, he went to work at the Co-Op in West Mersea (his mum only agreed to him leaving school early if he got a proper job), while at the same time working in his dad’s nightclub and starting a DJ business with friends.
Over the next few years he explored his options, taking on roles as a fisherman, satellite engineer, builder, milkman, electrician, plumber, mechanic – and a range of jobs in between.
Then in July 1985, while working as a builder, he was given the opportunity to work in security at the WOMAD music festival which was taking place in West Mersea that year.
That, he says, is where his love affair with the industry really began.
“I loved the atmosphere, the responsibility, the crowds and the unpredictability of it all.
“And looking back now, I can see how all those early experiences gradually pushed me towards the path I eventually took with security, leadership and building businesses.
“But then life has a way of forcing decisions on you.”
Forced decisions
By this point in his young life, Mario had already become a father with all the responsibility that brings.
Then his own father died.
Adult life was suddenly very real and earning a living wasn’t optional, it was survival.
Reflecting on that time, he says: “Dad taught me to look at life with my eyes wide open; to work hard and to never be afraid of taking risks. Losing him in my early twenties was probably the biggest challenge of my life. Suddenly I was trying to support my mum, deal with grief and navigate adulthood and fatherhood all at once.
“That period shaped me enormously and forced me to grow up very quickly.”
A couple of years later, Mario’s relationship also ended and he took it hard. Feeling like he had “gone off the rails a bit”, he moved back to London where he slept on floors while trying to rebuild his life.
Needing money and stability, he took occasional roles with door supervision companies at first, before one day he chanced upon a job stewarding at Lord’s Cricket Ground during a Test series. He loved it immediately – the atmosphere, the people and the unpredictability of live events.
Through the people he met there, he applied for and secured work at Wembley, where he was introduced to a whole new world with big crowds and major events. And in 1994, having gained a true passion for the sector, he successfully applied for a position at Showsec International, one of the most respected event security companies in the country.
It was a great decision.
“Showsec completely transformed my thinking, my standards and ultimately the direction of my life. I worked concerts and festivals involving artists like Michael Jackson, Prince and Oasis, and I still remember standing in front of crowds of over 125k people thinking: ‘This is where I’m supposed to be.’”
Moving up
Mario was an Operative at Showsec for two years, before moving on to various management roles within other security companies, while also working as a Personal Security Operative (bodyguard) to well-known bands, celebrities and dignitaries.
During this time, he also started PTTC The Training Company, which offered high-quality training services for the security sector (Mario is a highly qualified instructor and one of the only ASP – Armament Systems and Procedures – Accredited Civilian Trainers in the UK). That business operated for 14 years – but that wasn’t all.
In 2009, having just completed a foundation degree in crowd safety and management at Buckinghamshire New University, Mario also started Achilleus Security and Stewarding, providing security staff, stewarding and crowd management services to all industries in the UK.
He has since completed a wide range of qualifications including those in self-defence, the use of restraints, spectator safety, business management and the prevention and management of violence.
And in 2010, all of those skills and business initiatives were brought together under the one Achilleus umbrella, where Mario’s enduring passion for the industry and more than 38 years of experience continued to inform the company’s values, standards, safety systems, event planning, training and development.
But he hasn’t done it alone. He has been working alongside his business partner and now wife, Cathy.
The couple met while working at Achilleus then married in 2017, and, though clearly keen to protect his private life, he describes Cathy as his soulmate and best friend.
“Cathy is, without question, the biggest support in my life,” he says fondly.
“People often ask how we manage to work and live together so closely, but for us it works because we genuinely enjoy each other’s company. We’ve been through the highs and lows together, built things together, struggled together and celebrated together. That creates a very strong bond.
“I wouldn’t be where I am without her support, love, guidance, patience and belief in me over the years.”
A new ballgame
Achilleus was growing strong, but COVID was an enormous challenge as public gatherings stopped, venues closed and uncertainty hit everyone. Still, always keen to keep learning and adapting, Mario says it also gave them time to rethink, rebuild and refocus, and part of that strategy for the future was to focus on bigger events. It was, it turns out, a rather good plan, and today a large percentage of their contracts comes from concerts and sport. For example, Achilleus is an Official Security Partner for Essex County Cricket Club, Ipswich Town FC and Colchester United, while other clients include West Ham FC, Wembley Stadium, Twickenham and AFC Bournemouth. They also proudly sponsor stands at various grounds.
But what attracted those major clubs to work with Achilleus?
“I think it’s because we do what we say we’re going to do,” Mario says matter-of-factly.
“With live events, trust and consistency matter enormously. Clubs need to know that when the pressure is on, when crowds arrive or when situations become challenging, the people responsible for safety and operations are calm, reliable and capable.
“We bring that professionalism and experience, supported by integrity.
“Football has always been personal to me as well,” he smiles. “I was standing on the terraces as an emotional young Ipswich Town fan long before I was working professionally in stadiums. And that gives me a valuable insight into what we do, because I’ve been on both sides. I understand the passion and emotion that supporters bring with them.”
In the last few years, Achilleus has grown from 150 team members to more than 900 – and counting. Mario has also expanded into manned guarding and mobile security services with Achilleus Shield, launching the new division with the same standards, the same mindset and the same commitment that has formed the foundation of everything to date.
He is also a member of various organisations including the Football Safety Officers Association and The Worshipful Company of Security Professionals, and he has additional interests in digital marketing and web development.
He has, it’s fair to say, proved his teachers wrong.
So, what’s next?
“We have ambitions to expand significantly over the next few years, but I want to do it carefully and ensure we stay true to our values. Growth without the right culture is pointless.
“I’ve also realised as I’ve got older that a founder needs to be careful not to hold the business back. At some stage, you have to plan for succession; you have to develop the next generation so the business can continue evolving beyond you. That’s something I need to start thinking about.”
And more personally?
“I’d like the freedom to enjoy life a little more spontaneously; waking up one day and deciding to disappear off somewhere without worrying about phones, operations or schedules! And I’d like to fish more. Some of my best childhood memories are fishing with my dad, and it’s the one place I do really switch off.
“But most importantly, I’d just like more time with my wife, my children and my grandchildren, as they are my world and my greatest achievement, even though they don’t always know it.
“Seeing my children grow, build their own lives and in some cases become part of the business as well, there’s nothing more meaningful than that.”
