Most small businesses have been victims of crime in the past year but most do not report it to the police because it would be pointless, it is claimed.

The Federation of Small Businesses, which says business crime accounts for a fifth of all offences and costs £19bn, has produced a 10-point plan for dealing with criminal activity.
 
The Home Office and police forces are being asked to add a “business crime” category to their records and to conduct a survey of business crime every two years. Other points in the plan call for Local Area Agreements and Local Strategic Partnerships to set reduction in these offences as a priority with Neighbourhood Policing Teams including businesses in their consultations.

Some 40 per cent of businesses do not report criminal activity because they feel it would not achieve anything, according to the FSB. It says most firms that do report crimes do so only to obtain a crime number for an insurance claim, not because of an expectation that culprits will be caught.

The federation’s home affairs chairman, David Croucher, said: “Some 57 per cent of small businesses have been the victims of at least one crime in the past year. Owners and staff are left traumatised and businesses can close, costing jobs, if repeated crimes are not tackled and stopped.

“Crime against businesses makes up at least 20 per cent of all crimes but the authorities do not put the same priority on them as they do on domestic crime. Businesses are the forgotten fifth of crime in the UK.”

The FSB is asking the Home Office to abandon plans to remove the threat of prison for persistent shoplifters and ensure that fines are both high, and paid. “Over half go unpaid and often do not match the value of the items stolen,” says Croucher.

Read the FSB's ten point action plan to address business crime , for more information on tackling crime in your business.