Iconic South African security company gets a new CEO

Trellidor CEO Terry Dennison is set to retire at the end of June 2026 following two and a half decades at the company’s helm.

Dennison will be succeeded by Damian Judge, Trellidor’s current CFO and executive director.

On Friday, 17 April, Trellidor announced that Dennison is set to retire with effect from 30 June 2026.

Dennison has been with Trellidor since 1999, when he joined the company as a financial director. He took over as CEO in 2001 and has held the top job ever since.

During his tenure, Trellidor has gone from private ownership to listing on the JSE in 2015. Today, the company has a market cap of R125.68 million.

“The board extends its sincere appreciation to Terry for his long service, leadership, unwavering commitment and significant contribution to Trellidor over the past 27 years,” the company said. 

“While Terry will be focusing on family commitments, he remains a significant shareholder in the company.”

Trellidor’s board also welcomed Dennison’s agreement to remain available to the company on an ad hoc basis for the forthcoming financial year.

This, the company said, will ensure continuity and provide such support and industry expertise as may be needed.

Judge, who will take the helm with effect from 1 July 2026, has been Trellidor’s CFO since 2019. He has 15 years of manufacturing experience.

“As part of the planned transition, Damian assumed the additional leadership responsibility for sales and marketing in the company over the past year,” Trellidor said. 

“He has been instrumental in positioning new growth strategies for the company, the benefits of which should start to manifest in the near term.”

Jennifer Erasmus, who joined Trellidor six months ago, will take over as CFO after having assumed a shadow leadership role for all finance matters at the company since joining.

“A comprehensive handover of responsibilities from Terry to Damian and from Damian to Jennifer will be executed in the time through to the end of June 2026,” the company said.

“Damian and Jennifer are both supported by a broader long-tenured Trellidor management team that is stable, experienced and skilled.” 

“The board congratulates Damian and Jennifer on their appointments and looks forward to their leadership of the company into the future.”

Headline image: Terry Dennison (left) at Trellidor’s JSE listing in 2015.