Home Office – Commercial Victimisation Survey

Martin Gill is on the advisory committee for the commercial victimisation survey, which has reported and indeed planning is underway for the next wave.

The 2012 Commercial Victimisation Survey (CVS) is the first of a new series of Home Office surveys covering crime against businesses in England and Wales, focussing on business premises in four industry sectors: manufacturing, wholesale and retail, transportation and storage, and accommodation and food. The survey showed that there were 9.2 million crimes against these four sectors, with the wholesale and retail sector experiencing the majority of these offences (7.7 million). Almost half (46%) of premises covered by the survey had experienced at least one of the main crime types covered by the survey.

Premises in the wholesale and retail sector also experienced the highest rate of crime of the four sectors (19,701 incidents per 1,000 premises), mostly driven by shoplifting offences. There were a total of 4.1 million incidents of shoplifting estimated from the survey. Manufacturing premises experienced relatively low rates of crime compared with the other three sectors. Transportation and storage premises had the highest rate of vehicle-related theft (506 incidents per 1,000 premises), while accommodation and food premises experienced the highest rate of assaults and threats (2,073 incidents per 1,000 premises).

With regards to security practices, the survey found that around three-quarters (76%) of premises had burglar alarms installed and a similar proportion (73%) had protective window and door measures in place, the most common measures of this kind being bars, gates, grilles or shatterproof glass. Around a third (34%) of premises reported having crime prevention measures on stock or equipment, although this proportion increased with size of business such that 64% of premises with 50+ employees had these measures in place.

For further information on the results from the 2012 survey, please see the following two Home Office reports:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/crime-against-businesses-headline-findings-from-the-2012-commercial-victimisation-survey–2
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/crime-against-businesses-detailed-findings-from-the-2012-commercial-victimisation-survey

The 2013 survey is currently underway and has a slightly different coverage to the 2012 survey. The four sectors are: wholesale and retail, accommodation and food, agriculture, forestry and fishing (new), and arts, entertainment and recreation (new). The headline report on the 2013 survey results will be published in late February 2014.