During 2018/19 in England and Wales alone there were 606,282 crimes committed against businesses. That’s just over one criminal offence every minute. That’s according to figures from the National Business Crime Centre, which works at close quarters with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and regional police forces to undertake preventative measures against crime.

With criminals becoming increasingly devious in their quest to commit crime against hard-working, honest business owners, how best can you limit the security risks you face day-to-day?

Undertake a full and proper risk assessment

Before you do anything else, begin by undertaking a comprehensive risk assessment of the entire premises. Pinpoint potential areas that could be vulnerable to crime, such as entrance and exits and their proximity to your vital equipment or stock. At this stage it’s also important that your business has adequate safety procedures in place for employees and customers in the event of an emergency on-site.

Protect or monitor vulnerable access points

If necessary, improve the strength of internal and external doors, improve window locks and install perimeter lighting to ensure no part of the premises is under the cover of darkness. Of course, if you let your commercial space, you should ensure your landlord is aware of these vulnerabilities. It should be incumbent upon them to make sure the building is secure from day one of your tenancy.

Safeguard cash, equipment and stock on-site

If your business has historically stored cash on-site outside of operational hours, make sure it’s either housed in a secure safe or not at all. If you don’t have a secured safe on-site, routinely remove cash from your tills, as well as petty cash. Undertake regular audits of your on-site equipment and stock. Tag expensive items such as computers and machinery, recording the details of every single serial number; it will be worth it in the event of a crime. Speaking of expensive machinery, make sure it is fastened to floors and walls too.

Prevent information theft

In this day and age, it’s not just physical theft that businesses have to worry about but cyber-crime too. Information theft is on the rise, with cyber-criminals on the prowl for lax businesses that can allow fraudsters access to sensitive company data like financial records, employee data and even business-critical passwords. Always upgrade your IT systems against the ever-increasing cyber threats, with up-to-date firewalls and antivirus software. You should also periodically change those business-critical passwords and access privileges.

At Pall Mall Estates, many of our available commercial properties to let are situated on industrial estates and business parks, some of which offer dedicated CCTV as well as on-site security teams to monitor the safety of your premises out of hours.

If you place security as a priority when it comes to choosing your next business space, choose Pall Mall Estates as your next commercial landlord. For more information on any of our available premises, please don’t hesitate to call our friendly, experienced team today on 020 8108 7026 or drop us a line using our online enquiry form.

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Pall Mall Estates have a wide range of low cost commercial properties across the UK. Take a look at our available spaces here or get in touch with our experienced team here.

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