Recently, there has been a surge in burglaries over the Christmas period, with businesses being affected just as much as homeowners. Our latest blog covers our top tips around ensuring your business is protected in time for the festivities to commence.
It’s not hard to see why criminals see commercial properties as easy pickings during the festive period. Many companies shut down completely between Christmas and New Year, giving thieves a massive window of opportunity.
It’s essential to make sure you’re prepared for the end-of-year break, whether it be through our comprehensive guide or utilising our security services as we make it our business to ensure your premises remain safe, secure, and protected from potential opportunists this Christmas.
1. Christmas deliveries
Christmas is a busy time for visitors and deliveries, with criminals often taking advantage of this to slip into premises unnoticed. Installing an access control system is a great way to monitor people coming in and out of your business. At the same time, CCTV coverage of entrances and exits is also a good deterrent.
2. The locking up procedure
Establish a sensible and reliable locking up procedure well ahead of your last day and make sure all the relevant people are briefed. Additionally, make sure nobody’s left to secure the building on their own. We offer several services, including alarm response and keyholding to ensure your staff manage a good night’s sleep in the event of an intruder.
Should you be utilising your team, we recommend buddying up and never attending the premises alone out of hours. Make sure their contact details are correct, and don’t assume everyone is always contactable – it is Christmas, after all.
3. Utilise an alarm monitoring service
An alarm is essential for all businesses, and a monitored alarm offers even more peace of mind. With someone else keeping a keen eye on your business, you’re free to relax during the break, so don’t forget to let your monitoring company know your working dates over Christmas. We’ll continue to send a report the day after any events if you want to be kept in the loop of the festive break!
4. Install CCTV
Outdoor cameras are an effective deterrent against intruders. With a modern system, you can monitor your property wherever you are via your smartphone or tablet. If that sounds too much hassle, Delta Security Management can monitor your CCTV on your behalf and respond to any suspicious behaviour.
Security camera footage isn’t much use if thieves are using the cover of darkness, so we recommend making sure both your perimeters and your building’s exterior areas are well lit, preferably with motion-sensitive lighting. Or, for optimum security, choose external cameras with infra-red technology.
5. Install decent signage
Criminals are looking for the easiest target possible. So, if you have security systems, make sure you advertise them with prominent signage. It could make opportunist thieves think twice. When you opt for a provider such as Delta Security Management, we’ll provide this signage when we commence our service.
6. Check your insurance
If you’re keeping any cash on the premises over the festive period, make sure you use an approved insurance-rated container rated to the value of the contents. And think carefully about staffing – thieves know there’s more cash around in the run-up to Christmas and will target businesses where one person is left to lock up alone.
7. Keep valuables out of sight
Keep high-value items out of sight of ground floor windows. And if you’re leaving vehicles at work, empty them of all tools and other valuables and lock the keys in the safe or store them off-site.
Christmas is a well-deserved break for most of us after a busy year. Put our tips into practice, and you can get on with the important matters at hand – like which films you’re going to watch and what presents you’ll open next.
And if you’ve got any concerns about the security of your business, don’t leave anything to chance, contact us at info@deltasm.co.uk for some advice.
