Business crime

Darryl writes:

Business crime

I recently spoke with a shop owner in Cambridge who had started a new small business serving the local community. He had ploughed his own savings into the shop and any profits were to pay the bills.

A couple of days after opening he was the victim of burglary, stock taken, £8,000 of damage and an on-going loss of earnings while the shop was closed for repair.

A friend of mine owns a chain of convenience stores, employing hundreds of people, boosting local economies and serving local communities.

Not a day goes by without a crime being committed; be it shoplifting, ram raids or the very worst crime – assaults on members of staff.

Crimes committed against the convenience store sector cost £142m over the last year alone, equating to over £3,000 per store. In addition almost 89% of shop workers suffered some form of abuse.

Cybercrime too

And there is a new and significant threat to businesses of all types – cybercrime.

Be it cyber enabled (any crime that can be committed over the internet such as fraud) or cyber dependent (a crime that relies solely on computers such as ransom ware).

According to ITPro, cybercrime is estimated to have cost UK businesses a staggering £87 billion since 2015 – no wonder it can have a devastating impact on any business, including employees and local communities.

Business crime is not victimless

Perhaps some people see business crime as less serious than other crimes. I do not.

Businesses are made up of people, working hard to feed their families and to pay the bills, contributing to the economy paying for the health service, education and all the other vital public services we need.

If elected, I will…

If elected on 6th May, I will support our local businesses in the fight against crime by:

1.  Making resources available to the Chief Constable to recruit many more police officers.

2.  Create business crime forums in consultation with organisations representing businesses such as (but not limited to) the Chamber of Commerce, Federation of Small Businesses and the Association of Convenience Stores – with the objective of cutting crime.

3.  Hold the Chief Constable to account for the investigation of crime against businesses.

4.  Work with the Home Office to ensure an effective whole system response to cybercrime.

5.  Invest in cyber and online prevention officers.

Sources

Association of Convenience Stores' crime report 2021.

ITPro report on the cost of cybercrime.

Darryl Preston is the Conservative candidate in the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Police and Crime Commissioner election in May 2021.  There's more about Darryl on the About Darryl Preston page.