SMEs lose £13,500 a year to crime - FSB

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is urging local police authorities to engage directly with businesses, as research suggests SMEs lose an average of £13,500 each year to crime.

Entitled Putting the economy back on track: Crimes against business, the report found crimes against businesses make up 20 per cent of all recorded crime in the UK – also referred to as the ‘forgotten fifth.’

Results from the FSB survey of 8,700 members revealed that two-thirds of businesses were victims of crime over the past year – a figure that has increased by seven per cent over the past two years.

John Walker, national policy chairman of the FSB, said: “Police authorities should set local targets and strategies to deal with these problems on a local level.”

“The FSB is also concerned that the figures are much higher as our survey indicates that only around 45 per cent of firms that experienced crime actually reported it and the majority were not aware of local crime reduction methods.”

The most frequent crime experienced was vandalism, followed by vehicle damage, threatening behaviour, graffiti, shoplifting and burglary.

Dr Gary Packham, head of enterprise at Glamorgan University, said: “Crime against businesses is a very serious issue, as the figures show.

“A cost of £13,354 every year is a significant burden to a small firm and one the small and medium sized business sector should not have to continue to bear.”