Understanding the statistics around business crime in the UK is an important aspect of ensuring your business is as secure as possible. We took a deep-dive into the most recent statistics on crime against businesses in the UK and compiled some of the key insights.
In this article we will outline the findings on the crime by industry, the most common offences faced by businesses in the UK, the top security measures employed, and more!
Key Findings
- 469,000 businesses experienced crime in the last year.
- 21% of non-public business premises experienced some sort of crime.
- Just 58% of businesses that experienced crime in the last year reported it to the police.
- The sector most susceptible to crime is wholesale and retail with 42% of wholesale and retail premises experiencing crime in the last year.
- 35% of businesses reported experiencing several instances of robbery in the last year.
- Just 1% of businesses have installed security gates and/or barriers on their premises.
- 37% of businesses that did not report an incident of crime to the police reported that the reason they didn’t report was that it was too trivial.
- Theft was the most common crime committed against businesses, with 247,000 instances in the last year.
Crime by Industry
Understanding the highest risk industries is an important step to making the decision on which security measures you should install on your premises. According to the governments most recent commercial victimisation survey, the wholesale and retail industry was the most affected industry in the last year with 42% of businesses experiencing crime.
Following this, the next four most impacted industries were transport, accommodation and food, manufacturing, and construction. 36% of businesses in the accommodation and food industry reported experiencing crime in the last year with the manufacturing and construction industry reporting 30% and 27% respectively.
Most Common Offences
With 469,000 businesses reporting that they had experienced crime in the last year it is vital to know which types of crime you’re likely to encounter as a business. Over the last year, theft was the most common type of crime against businesses with 247,000 (15%) businesses experiencing theft in the last year.
Following theft, burglary (including attempts) and vandalism were the most common crimes against businesses with 146,000 burglaries including attempted burglaries and 143,000 instances of vandalism.
Frequency of Crime
It’s all well and good understanding the risk your industry faces and which crime you might fall victim to, but how often do businesses in the UK experience crime?
According to the data, 42% of businesses experienced crime just once in the last year which – however, 34% reported falling victim to crime several times in the year and 11% reported experiencing crime roughly once a month.
Frequency by Crime Type
Among the various types of crime that respondents could choose from, theft was the most frequent. 6% of theft victims reported experiencing theft several times per day in the last year and 69% experienced theft once to several times per year.
Other frequent crimes over the last year include robberies, 7% of robbery victims reporting to have experienced it roughly once per week and 35% of robbery victims experiencing them several times in the last year.
Top Security Measures
Installing security measures on your business premises is an excellent way to deter would be criminals from targeting you. The most commonly reported access control measure reported by businesses in the UK was a receptionist with 24% of businesses reporting that had a receptionist.
Following the trend of employing personnel to monitor access to the businesses, the second and third most common security measures to monitor access were security guards and caretakers. Surprisingly just 1% of businesses reported having gates or barriers installed on their premises.
Reporting Crime
Many would presume that if your business fell victim to crime, you would report it to your local police. However, this is not necessarily the case with just 58% of businesses who had experienced crime in the last year making a report to the police. Of businesses that did not report a crime to the police, the most common reason why was that it was “too trivial” with 37% of respondents selecting this option.
Other top reasons provided for not providing a report to police were “police would not be interested” with 13% and “police could not have done anything” with 12%. Interestingly, 9% of businesses that did not report the crime to police responded with “it’s just something that happens” once again highlighting the need for effective deterrents.
Secure Your Business
If we have learned anything from looking into these statistics it is that security and access control solutions are important for all businesses in order to deter and reduce crime. Here at Newgate we produce robust security gates and barriers which can be customised to your exact business requirements.
If you are concerned about the security of your business, please speak to a member of our team who can advise on the best security solution for you on 01636 700172 or email sales@newgate.uk.com
