Are you prepared? Anxious about increased crime and burglaries?
With many businesses closing for a period of time over Christmas and New Year, it is unfortunately a very common time for crime to occur while premises are unoccupied, as well as increased risk of damage from fire or bad weather. The staff who may be normally responsible for locking up, checking that windows are shut, making sure computers are switched off and Christmas lights turned off, will be away, leaving properties are more vulnerable to fire and intruders.
Consider the risks before you close up –
Make a plan in advance of closing for Christmas holidays – who will be locking up, are staff available to check in on the premises on an agreed rota or will you need to hire temporary security? If the weather is promised bad, take flood prevention action such as putting sandbags in place and switching off mains water to avoid flooding. Check that all smoke and intruder alarms are working correctly and have new batteries installed.
Don’t advertise the fact
Making it very obvious that your business is closed and unattended over the holidays is an ideal opportunity for criminals to pounce, so don’t make it very obvious that the premises is empty. Have lights on a timer; if you have CCTV or 24 hour monitoring then make sure this is well signposted on the exterior of the building; hire security staff to stay onsite at all times, and check back regularly for post so that it is not piling up in the doorway.
Be secure
Install an efficient system of alarms within and around your premises for fire and intruder detection. Also consider appointing a Key Holding and Rapid Alarm Response Service provider to take away the considerable risk in asking untrained members of staff to answer activation’s out of business hours.