Crisis management and kidnap response: Frequently asked questions

Straight answers to the questions we're asked most often about crisis management consultancy and kidnap and ransom response, written for people evaluating whether, and when, to bring in specialist support.

What is a crisis management consultancy?

A crisis management consultancy provides independent, expert led support to help organisations and individuals prepare for and respond to high consequence events: kidnap and extortion, cyber incidents, reputational crises, and other situations that exceed normal internal capability. That typically means risk assessment before anything happens, training and exercising to build readiness, and hands on advisory support during a live incident.

What does SJ Group International specialise in?

SJ Group International is a risk and crisis management consultancy headquartered in London, working with private clients, family offices, corporates, boards, private client law firms and insurers. Core services include kidnap, ransom and extortion response, crisis and incident management, hostage and crisis negotiation, risk assessment and prevention, investigations, and crisis management training, including simulation exercises at the Academy at Bylaugh Hall in Norfolk.

What is kidnap and ransom (K&R) response, and who needs it?

Kidnap and ransom (K&R) response is specialist support for kidnap, unlawful detention and extortion incidents, covering negotiation, crisis coordination and liaison with insurers, law enforcement and legal advisers. It is most relevant to high net worth individuals and families, executives who travel to higher risk locations, and corporates with international operations or exposed staff.

How should a family respond if they receive a kidnap or ransom demand?

The first priority is not to act alone. Preserve any communication exactly as received, avoid publicising the incident, and contact specialist responders and, where appropriate, law enforcement, as early as possible, K&R insurance policies often require this. A trained negotiator and crisis team, not the family directly, should manage contact with those responsible, while a coordinated response addresses the practical, legal, financial and welfare aspects of the situation in parallel.

What is the difference between crisis management consultancy and crisis management training?

Consultancy is advisory support: assessing exposure, building plans, and providing hands on guidance during an incident. Training is the exercise and rehearsal that makes a plan hold up under pressure, simulations, scenario based exercises and negotiation practice with trained facilitators. Most credible crisis management providers offer both, since a plan that has never been tested tends to fail at the point it is needed most.

Who does SJ Group International work with?

Clients include high net worth individuals and families, family offices, corporates and boards, private client law firms, and insurers and underwriters, in the UK and internationally.

What is SJ Group International's Assess, Prepare, Respond approach?

It is the firm's methodology for building crisis readiness: Assess exposure through risk reviews and intelligence-led analysis, Prepare through plans, training and simulation, and Respond through hands on, expert coordination during a live incident. The same team is typically involved across all three phases, so response is grounded in an existing understanding of the client's risk profile rather than starting cold.