Summertime Business Risks

Posted 21st June 2016 by Helen LeachWe’ve been experiencing plenty of sunny skies and hot weather the past few weeks – meaning our summertime is in full swing. But with the lighter nights comes a wave of security dangers that commercial property owners should be wary of.

According the latest Government statistics from the crime against business survey, a whole range of factors leave wholesale and retail premises at risk of crime – with many of the risks peaking during summer.

Owners of businesses which have bricks-and-mortar premises should fully understand these figures and the specific risks relevant to them in order to effectively protect their business and, ultimately, their livelihoods.

Seasonal Businesses

It’s important that business owners are attuned to risks specific to their type of business, particularly if those businesses rely on seasonal trade. The UK retail crime survey shows that those businesses most at risk of vandalism include: the Arts, Entertainment and Recreation; and Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing outlets. As the days grow longer, the physical premises of those business that depend on trade from the outdoors find themselves more at risk during their own peak seasons, particularly summertime.

Ultimately, as the general public become more aware of your business, its stock and its success, thieves and vandals become more aware of your premises too. This strongly suggests that those premises that are seasonal and that operate within this sector should install strong security measures which will mitigate the risk of criminal damage. The findings also imply that those premises in these sectors and establishments would benefit from additional protection. Vandal Shield and Roller Shutters make excellent deterrents from vandalism and theft. Roller Shutters provide a strong visual deterrent as well as a formidable physical barrier to protect vulnerable windows, particularly shop fronts. The Vandal Shield provides a more discreet option, whilst providing outlets with protection from vandals and thieves.

Summertime Retail Risks

The Government crime statistics also found that those businesses in the retail and wholesale sectors were found to be the most at risk of theft crimes, with 80% of incidents occurring on week days and 11% occurring at night.

As the days grow longer and leaving windows open to let fresh air in becomes more tempting, it is important that retailers do not find themselves at increased risk through negligence. Again, these businesses would benefit from protecting their shop fronts by implementing security measures and extra protection such as Roller Shutters.

Of course, it is not only seasonal and retail businesses that find themselves at risk of theft and vandalism this summer. We’ve taken a look at the top-line statistics and facts from the crime survey to establish under what circumstances other businesses find themselves at most risk all year round and why:

The Location

Wholesale and retail premises located in the London area typically experience over 7,500 incidents of all types of crime per 1,000 premises over the summer months alone – that’s 7.5 cases per outlet. Compare this with the South West of England and the ‘safest’ region of the UK for retail premises, yet still almost 3,000 incidents occur each summer per 1,000 outlets – although half the risk, still almost one incident each month befalling each retailer.

Business Size

The Crime survey also showed that larger businesses spent 20 times more that smaller premises on security measures. For those premises with fewer than 10 employees, the average investment in non-IT security was £126 rising to £2,500 for premises with more than 50 employees. This statistic is staggering as the increase in spend is not an increase linear to the size of the outlet in many cases. It would also be naïve for business owners to think that thieves and vandals are not aware of this statistic and target businesses accordingly.

 

For more information on how your business could improve its security, give us a call on 0161 413 0766 or email one of our specialists now.