Security should never be an optional extra in business.

Given that one in four reported crimes affect a business, the need to protect your staff and assets is greater than ever.

Reductions in the police and surveillance services have left many town and city centres vulnerable to the threat posed by criminals.

The British Retail Consortium’s annual Retail Crime Survey has shown significant growth in customer theft and fraud as well as growth in robberies; burglaries; and violence or abusive behaviour towards staff.

It is therefore vital that businesses take the appropriate action to prevent as much crime as possible to alleviate the demands on the service and there are a number of ways to achieve this.

Investing in good quality CCTV systems for your business is a strong deterrent, as are property marking and cloaking devices.

It is important to secure a successful prosecution that your property is identifiable as yours and that the police are given solid evidence to connect the perpetrator to your crime.

A lot of CCTV is not maintained or upgraded and this in turn is a false economy and can lead to criminals being released without a successful prosecution, so ensure that your systems are fit for purpose and are suitably maintained.

If you are investing in manned security services, ensure that you are recruiting from the correct provider.

Many businesses have fallen into the trap of assuming that because an individual is in possession of a Security Industry Authority (SIA) license that they have a competent and reliable sub-contractor.

Sadly, this is not the case. Over recent years, there has been a race to the bottom in terms of quality personnel being employed within this sector.

Too many companies circumvent legislation by undercutting on prices and effectively the officer is “self-employed” in many cases avoiding PAYE and national insurance contributions.

There are many companies who use social media to recruit people for one night stands and therefore the proper vetting is not carried out. This is sadly becoming the norm until such time that the government introduced business licenses for those wishing to operate in the security sector.

The safest way to recruit a security company is to ensure that they are part of the SIA Approved Contractor Scheme (ACS). This voluntary scheme is aimed at driving up standards within the security industry.

Businesses who wish to attain the ACS standard have to go through a vigorous assessment process which determines their compliance; their management of staff; and to ensure that the business is ran in the correct manner.

While using a company that has the ACS may prove slightly more expensive, it is worth the investment to stop you from exploiting individuals working for sub-standard and often dubious security firms.

Whatever you do, take the time to invest in the right security for your business as the cost of not doing so in this day and age will always be much, much higher in the end.

Andy Sharman, South West Businesses Against Crime