When something doesn't feel right, this is who they call.

Small by design

Defuse Global is a boutique advisory practice. Complex personal risk requires deep experience and direct attention, which is why we keep our client list deliberately small.

We work with advisers, family offices and prominent individuals when someone’s behaviour is causing concern, but its meaning is unclear. Our role is to provide clarity early — before assumption hardens into decisions.

We do not trade in fear. We do not default to visible security. We take the time to understand the behaviour, the context and the likely intent, and we advise measured, evidence-led action. Often, that means reassurance rather than escalation.

When pressure or uncertainty would otherwise distort judgement, we provide the calm second opinion that allows decisions to be made clearly.

“Defuse Global’s ability to identify, analyse, and assess online hate and targeted threats is genuinely first class. It has allowed us to make smarter, more proportionate decisions – strengthening defence and deterrence around the Principal and their family while protecting the security budget and ensuring financially prudent outcomes.

At a personal level, Philip is the one who tells me whether my client is actually in danger and, if so, what to do about it. He won’t oversell, he won’t undersell- he’ll just tell me the truth. That clarity and integrity are invaluable. Defuse’s regular reporting provides calm, evidence-based reassurance, cutting through noise and unfounded concern.

On one occasion, their rigorous, scientific assessment enabled appropriate escalation to law enforcement, resulting in a decisive outcome.

Defuse Global is now a trusted part of our protective ecosystem, and I would recommend them without hesitation.”

CSO US-based Private Family Office – 2026

“For those advising individuals and organisations on threat risks, it’s essential to understand who and what one is dealing with. Philip Grindell’s decades of real-world experience mean his voice is ignored at your and (more importantly) your client’s peril.”

Julian Pike, Head of Reputation Management and Sport at Farrer & Co at the time, now Partner at Gunnercooke

“Philip Grindell is one of the few threat assessment experts in the world with extensive experience advising public figures, politicians, and royal families. His compassionate view of ensuring clients feel safer demonstrates why his expertise is in demand. ”

Gabrielle Thompson – Threat Assessment Expert & Consultant to Public Figures and Corporations

“Philip is an expert in problem-solving threats emanating from the online environment. He has a unique skill set developed over several years of working with Members of Parliament and other high-profile individuals. There are few, if any, individuals in the country with the experience of Philip in this field of work.”

Simon Causer – former Head of Security at The City of London Corporation

Philip Grindell MSc CSyP – CEO & Founder

Philip Grindell helps prominent individuals, families and their professional advisers when something in someone’s behaviour begins to feel wrong.

People usually come to him early — when uncertainty, scrutiny or a shift in tone is starting to affect how a client thinks, sleeps or makes decisions, often well before a situation looks dangerous from the outside. Much of the work, he’ll tell you, is listening carefully and asking the right questions before any judgement is reached. He has spent decades learning that the right questions, asked early, prevent most of the problems that would otherwise become visible threats.

Philip is the Founder and CEO of Defuse Global, which is recognised in the Spear’s 500 as Top Recommended in Security, Intelligence and Investigations. He advises family offices, private clients, lawyers and reputation counsel. But what matters most to him is the human side of personal safety.

He believes most serious incidents are preceded by signals that are visible early and often misunderstood — and that the right response in those moments depends as much on careful judgement as on operational skill.

That belief was shaped by his earlier career. Philip was a detective at Scotland Yard, worked within the UK counter-terrorism and intelligence environments, and led the specialist Parliamentary threat assessment capability established following the murder of MP Jo Cox. The Parliamentary work, in particular, has changed how he thinks about every case he handles today — the slow build of unrecognised signals, the moment when intervention is still easy, the cost of waiting until a situation becomes visible.

His book, Personal Threat Management: The Practitioner’s Guide to Keeping Clients Safer (2025), was shortlisted in the Business Book Awards. The foreword was written by Dr Robert Fein, co-author of the U.S. Secret Service Exceptional Case Study Project, the research that changed how targeted violence against public figures is understood and prevented. Philip trained under Dr Fein directly and considers it the most formative period of his professional life.

He holds an MSc in Security Management and is one of fewer than 300 Chartered Security Professionals worldwide.

Order the best-selling book here:

Amanda Grindell – Director of Business Development

Before joining Defuse Global, Amanda worked in the TSCM and commercial counter-espionage sector, where discretion is the operating standard rather than the marketing line.

That background shapes how she supports both Philip and the clients the firm advises. People often come to Defuse Global at moments of uncertainty or unease, sharing concerns they may not have raised elsewhere. Amanda understands that trust is built through quiet consistency — doing what she says she will do, accurately and without fuss.

She oversees operations and coordinates client engagements, making sure the work runs smoothly behind the scenes. Her international background allows her to work comfortably across regions and time zones, and her steady, attentive manner helps clients feel heard during sensitive or difficult conversations.

Dr Lorraine Sheridan, PhD – Chartered Forensic Psychologist

Lorraine works at the point where someone’s behaviour has started to cause concern, but the level of risk is not yet clear. Her role is to help advisers, organisations and individuals understand whether their concern is warranted, what matters most, and what, if anything, needs to happen next.

She completed Europe’s first PhD on stalking and has spent more than 25 years working on cases involving stalking, harassment, threatening behaviour and harmful communications. Much of her work takes place in situations of uncertainty, conflicting advice, or rising anxiety — moments when proportionate judgement matters far more than diagnostic labels.

Lorraine has advised police forces, courts, governments, corporations and security professionals internationally. Police across England and Wales used the evidence-based harassment risk assessment she developed for many years, shaping how large numbers of cases were assessed and managed. She is registered as a forensic psychologist in both the UK and Australia.

Her approach is steady and evidence-led. She helps separate real risk from background noise, advises against unnecessary escalation, and supports decisions that people can stand behind long after they are made.

Lorraine’s work shares Defuse Global’s view of the field: that good risk assessment depends on careful reading of behaviour, on resisting the pressure to act before the picture is clear, and on the discipline to recommend no action when no action is what is required