It certainly was a ‘BriteStart’ this morning as deputy Police and Crime Commissioner Sue Arnold spoke at a 7am meeting at the Hedgehog in Lichfield about the new strategy to beat business crime and how it will help promote economic growth.
The new strategy– called Business Crime Matters follows the determination by Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Ellis that businesses who are victims of crime will not be forgotten.
He has asked Sue Arnold to deliver this vital strategy due to her extensive commercial experience including her former role as president of Southern Staffordshire Chamber of Commerce.
Latest reported crime figures show that there’s almost one crime every hour in Staffordshire where businesses are the victims.
The total price tag of burglary, shoplifting, robbery, criminal damage, theft and other offences against businesses in Staffordshire is estimated at over £7,300 per hour.
And, worryingly, according to the Federation of Small Businesses, over a third (39 per cent) of businesses do not report crime to police.
Mrs Arnold said: “This morning was a great opportunity to talk to local businesses. Companies can feel that crime against them is seen as victimless and that it is hard to get help if needed.
“We are calling for a new approach that treats business crime more seriously, where company owners get the support they need.
“It’s about giving businesses tailored, real-time crime prevention advice to reduce the chance of them becoming victims. It means offering timely support and guidance to businesses when they are unfortunate enough to be targeted – and helping them to not become repeat victims.”
Gareth Robertson, Founder and Chairman of BriteStart said: “BriteStart is about building a network where members really flourish and enjoy great success in business.
Having Sue Arnold come along today and speak to our members about her work for the Police and Crime Commissioner was a massive benefit to our group. Having known Sue myself for a while, I was very keen to get her to come and speak to the group about the valuable work she does and as expected, her talk went down extremely well. Our members were receptive to her and the Q&A session afterwards was very in-depth.”
To learn more about the strategy go to www.staffordshire-pcc.gov.uk/business
