Business crime is a growing problem in the UK with retailers alone losing £2bn a year and staff facing increasing levels of violence and a major summit in Liverpool will look at ways to tackle the problem. Tony McDonough reports
Business crime is costing the UK billions of pounds every year with frontline staff facing growing levels of abuse and violence.
Now a major summit taking place in Liverpool this summer will bring together business leaders, police, academics and businesses improvement districts to discuss how to tackle the problem.
This week is Business Crime Reduction Awareness Week and the figures illustrating the issue make stark reading. According to the British Retail Consortium crime in the retail sector is now at record levels.
In the 12 months to April 2024, the BRC found incidents of customer theft reported to retailers rose significantly, with losses reaching £2.2bn, a big increase from the previous year.
Incidents of violence and abuse against retail staff also soared with more than 2,000 such incidents occurring daily, a 50% increase from the previous year. Retailers spent £1.8bn on crime prevention.
Business crime can cover multiple issues and offences across a wide range of industries. It includes retail theft, vandalism and violence towards shop workers, diners leaving hospitality venues without paying, cyber crime, fraud and criminal damage.
This conference, organised by Liverpool BID Company and taking place in June, will look at the growing rates of crime, the impact on business and the under-reporting of offences. It will also look at how government and local authorities can help to tackle the issue.
Liverpool is one of 250 Business Crime Reduction Partnerships (BRCP) in the UK. The first awareness week, running until March 23, showcases the “holistic approach” to business crime prevention and the work from different partners to make cities safer.
In Liverpool, the BID Safety Partnership sees Liverpool BID Company working alongside Merseyside Police, Liverpool Nightlife CIC and Liverpool City Council and most importantly the businesses themselves.
This week’s awareness week will see Merseyside Police, including the Liverpool BID police team, visit businesses across Liverpool city centre to explore how they can help to make businesses safer.
Working together with city centre stakeholders, the teams will be working on a number of police initiatives, engaging with key members and providing expert advice and support, raising awareness of what a BCRP is and their part in it.
In Liverpool, the BID Safety Partnership includes two full time Merseyside Police officers who provide BID Levy Payers with a direct response to non-emergency enquiries about safety, crime prevention including cyber-crime, anti-social behaviour and security issues.
This BCRP conference will take place at the Hilton Hotel in the city centre on Tuesday, June 10. Speakers will include Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell and Superintendent Martin Holdaway from the National Business Crime Centre.
Shaun Holland, director of operations at Liverpool BID Company, said: “We know that business crime is increasing, and is costing businesses millions each year to tackle it, but it is becoming increasingly important to focus on how we can work together to tackle it.
“Liverpool is one of the safest cities in the country, however we are not complacent and this is recognised through our work in partnership with the statutory and voluntary sectors.
“In bringing different stakeholders together, we want to be able to create a route and a plan to reduce business crime.
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Big names in retail are backing the event, including TJ Morris which owns and operates the national Home Bargains retail chain from its headquarters in north Liverpool. Jenna Mckenzie is in charge of loss prevention at the company.
She added: “The main benefits of the BCRP is the teamwork that comes from working with various different companies with one aim at the end of it in the reduction of crime. I would encourage any business who is seeing a rise in crime in their businesses to join.
“It helps to know the offenders you are dealing with and helps with the whole process from start to finish. Other retailers might know an offender you don’t and vice versa, sharing the knowledge between everyone is power.”