Crime Against Business Forgotten and Unreported

According to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) today 20% of all crime in Britain is against businesses, but 40% of employers fail to report it because they feel the police will do nothing.  The FSB has therefore launched a 10 point action plan designed to spur the Home Office to do more in this area.

Having been burgled this time a couple of years ago it was clear to me that the police following up saw an investigation as largely futile.  And yet crime against businesses, particularly small ones, is very far from victimless.

As the FSB’s home affairs spokesman, David Croucher, points out:

Fifty seven per cent of small businesses have been the victims of at least one crime in the past year. Owners and staff are left traumatised and businesses can close, costing jobs, if repeated crimes are not tackled and stopped.

The government has announced various initiatives, particularly when pocket-dynamo Hazel Blears was at the Home Office, but ideas like Business Crime Reduction Advisers seem to have had little impact.  The FT points out this morning that the police have Key Performance Indicators, but that the Home Office has no plans to create a KPI related to business crime. 

Bad news surely?  Like any sound business the police are going to put most effort into areas that yield them the best results and best rewards.  Business crime clearly isn’t going to be one of those.

Tags: crime, employers, SMEs, home office, FSB

Alex is the founder and editor of SmallBizPod, the UK's first podcast dedicated to small business, start-ups and entrepreneurship. Alex writes about topical small business issues, entrepreneurs and anything else that catches his eye here on the small business blog. http://www.smallbizpod.co.uk