Gareth O’Hara, Chief Commercial Officer, Paxton discusses sustainability objectives, how access control is evolving with AI and what success looks like for the business in 2026.
I am the Chief Commercial Officer at Paxton.
My role is to oversee our global sales and marketing strategy, ensuring that as we expand into new markets, we continue to deliver the quality and simplicity our customers expect.
Essentially, I’m responsible for the commercial growth of the business and making sure our products remain a preferred choice for installers worldwide.
It’s a massive priority for us. We currently export to over 64 countries and have Paxton offices or personnel in the UK, US, France, Germany, South Africa, the Middle East and Benelux.
When you operate on that scale, your message must be clear.
An installer needs to know that a Paxton system works the same way and is just as easy to install and get support, whether they are in the UK, Middle East or the US.
We don’t over-complicate things; we stick to our core values of simplicity and reliability because that’s what builds long-lasting relationships with our customers.
We make sure they have the right tools and knowledge to do the job.
Over the last few years, we’ve run Paxton Tech Tours across the UK, US and Europe to get our latest technology directly into installers’ hands and we are bringing them back this year.
These tours are more than just a demo; they give the installer new business opportunities and the confidence to pitch more advanced systems to their customers.
Beyond the Tech Tours, we offer free training in all the countries in which we operate.
We provide training at our premises, installers’ premises or any convenient location for our customers.
Our award-winning technical support team is dedicated to delivering world-class after-sales support to installers.
In addition, we have the Paxton Installer app which includes all our product information and technical guides, enabling installers to find the answers they need quickly and simply without wasting time on-site.
Sustainability is no longer a ‘nice to have’; it is a business requirement in many countries.
We are seeing more tenders and end-users asking for green credentials and we want our installers to have those answers ready when they need them.
Our internal Green Team has been working on this for several years and we’ve already achieved Carbon Neutral status across our offices in the UK, France, Germany and South Africa.
We are pushing for Net Zero well ahead of 2050.
We have cut our emissions by over a third and now run our UK facilities on 100% renewable energy tariffs.
Our goal is also to provide ‘greener’ solutions that support the transition.
For the installer, this translates to products like Net2 that can automatically manage building energy usage, giving them a tangible selling point for eco-conscious clients.
Our CEO Adam Stroud has spoken about this recently.
We only integrate technology if it adds real-world value.
For example, AI can be useful for identifying patterns with analytics, which can enhance security system performance.
Cloud is where the real shift is happening right now.
Utilising smartphones and smart credentials are about making access control more secure and more convenient for the end-user.
We are very excited about our product launches coming this year, which lean into this move toward cloud and mobile-first solutions further complementing the developments recently for Net2, Paxton10 and Entry.
It’s very simple: If our people are proud to work here, our customers get a better experience.
Being named one of the Sunday Times Best Places to Work in 2025 is a result of our team feeling supported and engaged.
When our employees are motivated, it leads to better products and better service for the installer.
You can’t build a world-class global business on a weak culture; our internal success is what allows us to support our partners properly in the field.
Success is defined by the growth and profitability of the installers who choose Paxton.
We have some major product launches coming this year that I’m personally very excited about and we’ll be out on the road working with our installers in real-time to make sure these systems hit the mark.
If we continue to make security simple while delivering the support our customers need to win bigger projects, 2026 will be a standout year for us and our partners.
This article was originally published in the February edition of Security Journal UK. To read your FREE digital edition, click here.
