WEARING sleek designer glasses and immaculately dressed, he could be any successful entrepreneur on his way to a high-powered meeting with investors.

He is articulate, charming and quick-witted, and appears to have the type of business acumen in demand at any blue chip company.

But the man who has overcome his dislike of the media to speak exclusively to The Herald is Paul Ferris, one of the most feared underworld figures in Scotland.

After The Herald revealed that Glasgow City Council in-tended to hire a security firm as part of a (pounds) 3m contract for sites across the city, Mr Ferris, 40, decided to lay bare his involvement with Frontline Group Security (Scotland) Ltd, in what is perceived to be the murky world of security services.

''We will look at any contract that crops up. We have been working on PPP and PFI contracts and there is definitely a niche for us,'' he said,

''With the city council, it depends on the kind of remit they were after. Our business is clean, but I can't necessarily say that about some of the others.

''There is no reason why we shouldn't go for these kind of opportunities. We have ended up with a kind of hysteria (over security firms) and have been dragged into the quagmire along with other companies.''

Mr Ferris's first involvement in security began in 1995 with the establishment of Dem Security Services and Premier Security, which supplied guards to sites across Scotland. Premier went into liquidation with debts of about (pounds) 440,000 in 1997.

That involvement was cut short when he was jailed for 10 years at the Old Bailey in July 1998 after being found guilty of a string of charges involving the supply of prohibited weapons such as submachine guns, shotguns, handguns, ammunition and explosives.

The sentence was later re-duced to seven years on appeal and he was freed in January 2002 after serving four years and nine months.

Mr Ferris was found not guilty of the 1991 killing of Arthur Thompson junior, a drug dealer.

Since his release in 2002, he claims to have gone straight, although others allege that he has always retained his gangland connections.

He is the first to recognise that his dark past (and some would say present), makes him a somewhat surprising candidate for a career in the security business.

''I need to put past events behind me. I went down a particular path and stated clearly on my release on January 21, 2002, my intention to return to the security industry,'' Mr Ferris said.

''The upshot of it all is that I now aim to be a director of Ferris Security Consultants and the legal position in that regard still has to be clarified by the Security Industry Authority (SIA).

''I am at present looking into the provisions of the rehabilitation act for the employment of ex-offenders as consultants within the security sector.

''I have secured a contract between Frontline and Ferris Security Consultants which will expire if I fail to obtain a consultancy licence.

''I see no reason why I can't be a director, nor can I see any reasons, legal or otherwise, that can prevent me from earning a living, albeit in a controversial industry.''

He added: ''But then again, I have always been regarded as a controversial sort of a guy.''

In December, Mr Ferris sat in the public benches at the High Court for part of the closing stages of his older brother's trial for the murder of 15-year-old Jason Hutchison. Jurors were told that Billy Ferris had intended to attack the victim's brother, believing he had assaulted his wife at a party.

Paul Ferris is now adamant that he has rejected his life of crime and is dedicated to ensuring that an ex-offender should be able to make a bona fide income. He, perhaps surprisingly, welcomed the extension of the SIA to Scotland and was scathing about what he termed the ''Pontius Pilate act'' of the Scottish Executive.

''The executive should have enough autonomy to take this issue of security regulation by the scruff of the neck. I feel there is a need to have the industry regulated inasmuch as there is a need to establish a working hourly rate which is fixed by the SIA,'' he said.

''The SIA will cover the whole of the UK as you will have English-based companies working within the security sector in Scotland and vice-versa.

''The idea sounds about right so let's see if it works and allow me to continue in my own business ventures within the industry until there are some regulations in place that prevent me from earning a living as a security consultant.''

Previously, police have said they were aware of public fears about disreputable security firms after building sites in Glasgow were set on fire and a guard was stabbed during a night raid last year. A police spokesman said he was sure that the council would take every precaution when awarding contracts.

One source close to the security industry said he believed Mr Ferris would have a slim chance of receiving a licence once the SIA's remit expanded to Scotland.