Close Protection Services for Dignitaries
WH Management Group provides close protection services for dignitaries where protocol awareness matters as much as security capability. WHMG has delivered security and emergency response since 2006, and government and state events are part of our remit. This page sets out our experience of state and ceremonial occasions, what our close protection service provides for visiting and resident dignitaries, and the specialist support available alongside it.
State and Ceremonial Experience
WHMG was appointed official security provider for the Victory over Japan Day 80 commemorations at the National Memorial Arboretum, held on 15 August 2025. Thousands attended, including dignitaries, military personnel and members of the public.
Our responsibilities there covered access control and guest safety, supporting ceremonial logistics, and maintaining a respectful and reassuring presence throughout the venue.
Our client HPower Group has described four years of work with us in these terms.
"Over the last four years, they have delivered security protection and stewarding for The Royal Windsor Horse Show, The Funerals of Her Majesty The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh and The Cenotaph to name a few."
That is the category of occasion this service is built around.
Why Dignitaries Require a Different Approach
Dignitaries are one of the groups our executive protection teams are built around, and they bring a requirement the others do not. Protection has to operate inside a formal framework.
A ceremonial or official occasion has an order of proceedings that security cannot disrupt. Movements are scheduled, positions are fixed and the presence of a protection team has to be consistent with the tone of the event.
This is why close protection services for dignitaries begin with protocol. We provide personnel knowledgeable with international protocols, so that arrangements fit the occasion rather than sitting awkwardly against it.
Advance Work and Preparation
Almost everything that makes an official visit go smoothly happens before anyone arrives.
We walk the programme in advance, looking at each location and movement in turn to find where it is exposed and what would need to change if the timing slipped. Vulnerabilities identified at this stage are dealt with on paper rather than on the day.
Where a security strategy already exists we work inside it. That means agreeing in advance who holds which responsibility, so nothing is assumed and nothing is duplicated.
Specialist Support for Official Visits
Close protection services for dignitaries are frequently accompanied by other requirements, and WHMG provides these in-house.
Explosive detection dogs and drug detection dogs, alongside general purpose security dogs, for venue and route work.
Surveillance and counter surveillance, for occasions where the visit itself is sensitive.
Super recognisers, deployed where identifying individuals in a crowd matters.
Security chauffeuring, using high-end vehicles and drivers trained in security as well as driving, with the cultural awareness an official visit calls for.
Who Else We Protect
Dignitaries are one part of our close protection work. The same teams cover several other groups.
CEOs, where the protection has to fit around a working business and stay out of its way. Celebrities, where public recognition is what drives the risk.
Overseas visitors, who need someone with local knowledge alongside whatever they have brought with them. And other VIPs whose exposure comes from status or profession rather than from a single role.
Everything Else WHMG Provides
An official visit or ceremonial occasion often needs more than a protection team, and the rest of our service sits in the same company.
Where the visit forms part of a public occasion, we cover event security and stewarding, medical, fire and rescue including paramedics and fire appliances, and large animal rescue for ceremonial and equestrian events.
For premises and organisations, we cover corporate security, residential security, concierge security, business protection for sectors including government sites, intelligence and surveillance, and protestor management.
The Areas We Cover
Our head office is in Heathfield, East Sussex. From there we cover Kent, Surrey, South London and Sussex across both East and West, along with the rest of the South East.
Our appointment at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire shows we deploy nationally when the occasion calls for it.
Arrange a Briefing
Enquiries about close protection services for dignitaries usually begin with a short call about the occasion itself. The programme, the protocol requirements, who is already involved and what has been arranged so far.
From there we can walk the itinerary and come back to you with what we would provide, whether that is a full protection team or local support around a detail you already have.
Working Alongside Official Security Details
A visiting dignitary often arrives with a travelling security team already in place. We add local capability around that team rather than duplicating what it already does, supplying extra officers working ahead of the principal, escorts on the move and reserve personnel where numbers are short.
Our officers hold SIA licences and are trained to current counter-terrorism standards, and many joined us from the armed forces and the emergency services. At commemorative and ceremonial events that background brings an understanding of the significance of the occasion, not only of the security task.
Our accreditations and policies are published in full, including our ICO registration and our Gold Award in the Armed Forces Covenant Employers Recognition Scheme.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Yes. We were the official security provider for the VJ Day 80 commemorations at the National Memorial Arboretum in August 2025, and our client HPower Group has credited us with security and stewarding for The Royal Windsor Horse Show, the funerals of Her Majesty The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh, and The Cenotaph.
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Local support around them. We add officers working ahead of the principal, escorts on the move and reserve personnel, and we agree in advance who holds which responsibility so nothing is duplicated.
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We provide explosive detection dogs and drug detection dogs alongside general purpose security dogs, and we walk the programme in advance as part of our preparation.
Service detail
Concierge services
Manned Guarding
Asset Protection
Incident Management
Access Control
Let’s work together
To discuss our services in more detail or to find out more, please get in touch.