Reed Research Investigations is a Professional Investigation company, focused in Ontario, Canada, with affiliates around the globe. We provide actionable intelligence via Surveillance and Investigations to the insurance, corporate, and legal sectors typically in the defence of claims or to assess and evaluate risk. We focus on providing a superior investigation product, that is legal and defendable, at a fair cost, tailored to suit your specific requirements.
Tell us about yourself?
As a child and teen, I dreamt of becoming a police officer and focused this vision on my post-secondary studies towards police foundations and obtained a Law & Security Administration Diploma – Honours. Initially, with little direct experience and no police services hiring in the early 1990’s, I transitioned into Private Investigations as a bridge to policing. I loved the anonymity and variety of the work, got hooked, found my niche, and never left.
If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
Be prepared for the long haul as the storm can cycle back, and all the planning in the world cannot prepare you for the unforeseen. So, focus on the present, plan for the future, and learn from the past, but mostly adjust along the way.
What problem does your business solve?
Usually, our clients come to us with an identified problem, which may be specific to their industry or corporation. We then review the suite of services that we provide such as surveillance, investigations, cyber intelligence, undercover operations, due diligence reporting, or background screening that might be applied to address their needs. We provide our clients with the insight and actionable information first, so that they can make informed decisions that best meet their needs.
What is the inspiration behind your business?
I’ve always enjoyed sorting out problems and helping people, while having an engrained sense of right and wrong. We help corporations, businesses and persons who have been taken advantage of or exploited by other parties. These parties do it for their own gain, be it out of greed, opportunity, or a simple disregard for the rules. Our services help balance this equation.
What is your magic sauce?
In a few words, our people make the magic happen. As a boutique firm, we only hire and work with Senior Investigators, who have an average of 18+ years in the Professional Investigation industry. Our investigators in the field are the key to our success. We focus on the experience and education of both our people and our clients, while doing what we know best in our field. We provide a superior product, managing our clients’ expectations and controlling cost to have the best possible outcome for all. Information that supports the facts is just as valuable as information that contradicts these.
What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?
We would like to see continued organic growth in our business, as we have for over 27 years, while we enhance both our client base and employee talent pool. We have been leaders in the industry in leveraging technology and want to continue to evolve in this area, while continuing to educate society and our industry in fraud prevention and investigation.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
We live in an environment where everything has been commodified. It must be faster, cheaper, and better. This is not a sustainable model as eventually something is going to suffer along the way. Therefore, the biggest challenge I see is the attempted commodification of investigations and surveillance. If you want it cheaper and faster, it most certainly won’t be better and likely will be of no value. Investigations and surveillance are not something you get a second opportunity on. Costs are often examined in terms of “the spend”, but how often is the cost of doing nothing, or worse, doing it wrong considered? Educating our industry to this point is a constant challenge.
How can people get involved?
We frequently provide education and training to a wide variety of industries, so if you are interested in further information as to these events or our services, visit our website; www.ReedResearch.com. Additionally, if you need a free consultation or quote, you can call the office and speak to anyone of our professional investigators at 416-545-1800 or 877-854-5888.