The Home Office, police and local councils have been called upon to tackle the annual £19bn worth of crime against businesses.
A fifth of all crime is committed against business, according to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).
The organisation claims many crimes go unreported because business owners do not feel anything will be achieved by telling the police. The FSB believes that businesses that do report crime do so for insurance purposes rather than any expectation that the culprits will be caught.
“Businesses are the victims of the forgotten fifth of crime in the UK,” said David Croucher, FSB home affairs chairman.
“57% 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 challenge now for the Home Office and the police is to put this huge number of crimes on their priority list and end the current fragmented approach.
“They will find businesses willing partners at local, regional and national level. The jobs and livelihoods of many of the 12 million people that work for small firms depend on the authorities finally getting their act together to tackle crimes against businesses.”
The FSB is urging police to engage with businesses through ‘face to face contact’ and to offer advice to firms on how to protect their businesses and staff.
The organisation also wants the Home Office to abandon plans to remove prison threats for shoplifters and to make sure all fines are actually paid.
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2007
