CRIMES against businesses costs the UK economy £18.8bn per year with firms more than twice as likely to be the victim of crime than individuals, according to a major new survey on business crime published by the British Chambers of Commerce.

In a wake-up call to reshape the Home Office agenda on crime, the BCC's Business Crime Survey 2001, shows 58 per cent of businesses report being a victim of crime in the last 12 months compared with 27 per cent of individuals*.

The survey reveals that on average, crime costs a company £5,000 per year and mainly results in a disruption of trading (30 per cent).

The survey, the largest and most detailed of its kind, covering 3,000 firms of all sizes in all sectors across the UK, uncovers high levels of under-reporting of business crime with 13 per cent of firms claiming they do not report any instances of crime to the police. The survey highlights that 85 per cent of companies employing more than 250 employees experienced a crime over the past 12 months, whereas small businesses were less likely to report crime due to a lack of faith in police response.

40 per cent of the respondents to the national survey were NW based companies, so the overall results are a close match to our region.

Firms also suffer higher rates of victimisation than individuals, with more than one-fifth of businesses experiencing a crime at least once every two months.

Alarmingly, more than one third of businesses claimed that they had never received crime reduction advice, while 82 per cent of companies reported that they were not aware of a community safety partnership in their area.

The East Lancashire Chamber is working closely with Local Authority groups on Crime Prevention and Disorder programmes throughout the region. Commenting on the findings of the survey, David Lennan, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce said: "There is often a perception in the public sector that businesses are

profitable and insured, there by making business crime a 'victimless crime'. As the survey demonstrates, the social and economic costs of business crime are staggering.

"Crimes against businesses have wider implications, depriving communities of amenities and services, threatening jobs, increasing business costs and jeopardising local investment. For small businesses with few resources, crime can tip the balance from success to failure.

"Crimes against businesses rarely receives the attention it deserves, therefore, government, police and local authorities must do more to work with the business community to help reduce the burden of this 'forgotten crime'."

The survey also reveals that the most common crimes experienced by businesses are vandalism (27 per cent) and burglary (27 per cent) closely followed by vehicle crime (21 per cent). More than one-fifth of companies who responded to the survey experienced theft by an employee, more than fraud, arson, Internet crime and personal injury.

83 per cent rated video camera surveillance as the most effective measure of reducing crime against their business.

NOTES:

(1) * British Crime Survey 2001 indicates that only 27 per cent of individuals have

been a victim of crime in the past 12 months.

(2) The Business Crime Survey is part of the BCC Securing Enterprise Campaign, which was launched in response to Chamber members' concern about the growing cost and impact of crime against their business. The survey will be followed by detailed policy recommendations and a strategy for tackling business crime to be presented to the Home Office at a meeting in 2002.

(3) Crime is frequently identified in membership surveys as an important issue for business, which is often overlooked by policy makers and business support agencies. Business crime is often only thought of in terms of retail crime or non-residential burglary, businesses suffer all types of crime that are classified in police stations under general crime types. Business crime is an umbrella term encompassing a multitude of crime and disorder offences.

(4) Cost of business crime includes the loss of damage of business owned items when away from the premises. Business crime describes the extent to which the business as a corporate entity as well as the individuals employed there are the victim of crime.