INDUSTRYNEWS
SPONSORED BY ADVANCED KEYS
REALITY CHECK ON RETAIL CRIME
The opening month of 2014 may have brought some much-needed breathing space for
businesses across the UK with signs that the UK economy is stabilising. But a new Retail
Crime Survey 2013 shows that crime continues to undermine growth and profits.
Here, Steve Ross, Managing
Director of Mul-T-Lock
analyses the findings and
suggests how the locksmith
industry can step in to
support retailers and protect
against latest criminal
trends.
The annual Retail Crime
Survey 2013 from the British
Retail Consortium (BRC)
covers a cross-section of the
UK retail industry, from large
department stores to smaller
retailers and pure online
retailers. It found that nearly
one in 20 stores was involved
in a robbery during 2013.
Survey Specifics
The average cost of each
incident tripled to £3,005, from
£989 in the previous year and
the number of total offences
recorded at 2.7m across the
sector, representing a nineyear high. The average cost of
goods stolen has risen by 28%,
to £109.
Customer thefts remain the
most common retail crime,
accounting for 83% of all
incidents, despite having the
biggest fall in reporting. The
survey indicates there are 2m
incidents of shoplifting a year
in the UK retail sector as a
whole, involving about £200m
worth of goods.
In some areas, police forces
have reported growing
numbers of people stealing out
of desperation and targeting
essential items such as
groceries rather than luxury
goods.
Given the state of the UK
economy, people have been
turning to crime for lower
value items as a way to look
32
after themselves and their
families.
But at the other extreme,
organized crime gangs are
systematically targeting high
value items. The value of items
in each incident has risen to
£177, a 62% increase on 2012.
Costs increased for all crimes
with the exception of shop
break-ins. And now, retailers
are spending more on efforts
to protect their staff, stock and
customers: £750,000 each on
average, up 7%.
This is where a local
professional locksmith,
armed with the right
product solutions can make
a difference and ensure
appropriate, cost effective high
security measures are in place
to protect property, visitors
and staff against all latest
trends in retail crime.
Time to Act
With the noted link between
increasing theft and the
economic climate we need to
work together to continue to
encourage retailers to review
their security and show
how any recommendations
will only enhance the retail
THE JAN/FEB 2014 ISSUE
SPONSORED BY ASSA ABLOY Security Solutions
environment, not only in
creating a safer place to work
and shop, but also improve
efficiencies, access control
and key management.
For professional locksmiths,
the important message is
to break down the popular
misconception that any
investment in security is
expensive and complicated
with new access control or
electromechanical technology
to source, implement and
maintain and ensure premises
stay secure.
Simple, Cost Effective
Security Upgrades
Mechanical locks and high
security cylinder suites still
provide the backbone for
many premises’ security
portfolio.
So even basic steps such as
upgrading the door cylinders
can make a significance
difference.
We would recommend
Mul-T-Lock Break Secure XP,
which is a cylinder only BSi
TS007 British Kitemark 3 star
accredited solution to instant
offer protection from cylinder
manipulation attack.
Taking mechanical innovation
one stage further for retailers,
locksmiths can present
FlexControl as a way to control
entrance access with an easyto-use, mechanical solution.
FlexControl is a euro profile
cylinder with a user-controlled
temporary lock-out facility
that allows owners continuous
access to the cylinder, but
also provides the capability
to remove access for other
users as and when required.
This temporary lock out
functionality can be reversed
quickly and simply by the
owner when needed.
One of the key benefits of
the Mul-T-Lock FlexControl
solution is the opportunity
for businesses to maximise
their full security potential
by reducing the amount of
access control given. Having
this access control solution is
a cost-effective method that
minimises long-term costs of
having new security systems
installed.
In summary, just these two
examples show how retailers
can invest in simple measures
to improve security standards,
but best working practices also
need to be improved to help
reduce retail crime, which is
where presenting solutions
such as FlexControl to actively
manage keys and access
control can help.
For more information
on Mul-T-Lock’s range
of product solutions or
a technical FlexControl
specification, please visit
www.mul-t-lock.co.uk or
follow @multlockuk on
Twitter.
To read more, visit www.locksmithjournal.co.u