Commercial Burglary Deterrents: How to keep burglars out of your business

Robberies and thefts are among the most significant risks for commercial enterprises. Government data indicates that a shocking 26% of all business premises across England and Wales experienced some form of crime within a one-year period.

Commercial burglary deterrents are the first line of defence against costly burglaries, making sure your property, people and assets are protected, monitored, and far from an easy target.

Importantly, the deterrents you implement to prevent commercial burglaries always depend on the risks most prevalent in your sector. These could include organised break-ins overnight to target machinery and raw materials, customer thefts in retail environments, or covert intrusions to access commercial assets away from your main premises.

In this article, we review these risks and advise on the best Commercial Burglary Deterrents to consider for your premises.

Business Burglaries in England: The Facts

• The government Commercial Victimisation Survey collates statistics about business burglaries periodically and found that, with 409,000 commercial premises subject to crime, burglary, vandalism, and violence are the most common.
• Wholesalers and retailers experience higher instances of theft than other sectors, although certain types of premises are also commonly at greater risk, such as those away from busy city centres or without regular police patrols.
• Data from the FSB supports these findings, noting that 42% of reported commercial crimes are robberies and burglaries, 38% are thefts, and 36% relate to criminal damage.

The Importance of Proactive Deterrents to Avoid Business Burglaries

Prevention is always better than cure, and being proactive about your commercial security could potentially save thousands in lost productivity and sales, downtime while replacing stolen equipment, assets, and machinery, and time pursuing insurance claims and compensation to get your business back on track.

Conventional reactive security can only go so far. It raises an alert after the fact, notifies security responders or managers when a burglary is already underway, or records evidence of the break-in without preventing it from happening in the first place.

Responding to crime rather than deterring it is undoubtedly less effective and can lead to a wide range of problems.

In the worst-case scenarios, these could mean difficulties securing appropriate commercial insurance coverage, being a repeat target by organised burglars, and losing sales while dealing with the fallout.

Creating a Bespoke and Pre-Emptive Burglary Deterrent System for Your Business

As we’ve mentioned, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach since a lot will depend on your trade or industry, the location of your business premises, the potential access routes and entry points, and the types of burglaries considered the biggest hazard in your risk assessment.

Tailored approaches are always preferable since they avoid investment in security or surveillance devices and solutions that may not be 100% effective and tackle your risks head-on.

For example, when we consult with a commercial client concerned about their vulnerability to burglaries or keen to upgrade their current security, we might ask about the following:

• Physical security in place, such as tamper-proof locks, access control systems, and properly lockable service doors that aren’t easy to open.
• Entry points, especially those in darkness, and the hours of operation – and those when nobody will be on the premises.
• Locations of business-critical assets or inventory most likely to be a burglary target, such as whether stocks are kept in internal storerooms, held off-site or in a separate unit, or stacked in a warehouse with a rear fire exit.
• The staff, security teams and personnel with authorised entry rights, whether they hold keys, security fobs or entrance codes, and how you manage your current keyholding arrangements.

Getting a full picture of these reactive security elements provides a steer on the best way to devise a future-proof and robust deterrent, gaining an understanding of your security infrastructure, requirements, needs and the areas and aspects of your premises most exposed to burglaries.

Preventative Measures Available to Avoid Commercial Burglaries

While not exhaustive, we’ve collated a summary of some of our most in-demand services which can act as deterrents for commercial security breaches.

All of these can contribute to a blanket of protection and put off even the most committed burglars, who will not attempt a robbery when they are certain to be recorded, apprehended, or subject to police prosecution.

• Video Verified Alarms: Alarm systems are a mainstay of commercial security, but adding video captures can help eliminate false alarms and prevent active intrusions. Alarms can be activated by movement or a window or door opening, and a burst of video can inform security teams of the nature and exact location of the threat to support a targeted response.

• Commercial CCTV Surveillance: Cutting-edge CCTV goes beyond the capabilities of standard camera systems, incorporating everything from facial recognition to behavioural analysis, missed or left object detection, and movement tracking. Clear signage and visible cameras are an excellent deterrent against all types of crimes.

• Wide-Scope CCTV Towers and Perimeter Intrusion Detection Systems (PIDS): Larger outdoor spaces, extended perimeters, and far-reaching boundaries are difficult to monitor, allowing burglars to reach your premises undetected. Tower-mounted CCTV and advanced PIDS can monitor even huge areas of land, triggering an immediate alert and enabling fast investigation to stop a prospective intruder before they get any further, or sounding an alarm to warn that movements have been detected and a responder is en route.

• Commercial Intruder Alarms: As a security provider, we are delighted to offer NSI-approved alarms and monitoring services. These services carry a stamp of approval that assures you that your business is protected by the latest technology, with best-practice installation and core reliability to defend your commercial premises from any potential threat, burglary, or intrusion.

• 24/7/365 Alarm and CCTV Monitoring: Around-the-clock alarm monitoring is key, ensuring that a blaring siren or live alarm activation is never ignored or assumed to be false. Our highly trained responders are on hand 365 days a year, logging every alarm or alert and initiating the appropriate response – or standing the alarm down if it is not an emergency.

• Steel Screens and Vacant Property Doors: If a business is vacant, its risks instantly multiply, and installing impenetrable, commercial-grade steel doors with keyless entry and robust screens over windows is an excellent way to augment your security further.

If you would like further information about any of these solutions, devices, or approaches and how they deter burglars, intruders, and criminals, you are welcome to contact the Clearway team at any time to discuss their relevance for your business.

Daniel Meeajane

Business Development Director, Clearway Fire and Security

Daniel Meeajane is a Business Development Director for Clearway Fire and Security.

Having been involved in some major projects and achieving successful results Daniel uses his knowledge and experience to leverage awareness in Fire Protection. To do this a deep understanding of the BS 5839 PT1 is required along with keeping updated on the latest technology.