Businesses blame crime on yob culture, drugs and binge drinking

Businesses are concerned about the increase in the number of crimes committed against them and they are blaming ëyob cultureí, drugs and binge drinking, according to a new study by AXA.

Worryingly, a quarter of businesses surveyed said that their biggest fear was being a victim of violent crime in the workplace, and it was retailers in particular who were most concerned with 34% admitting that this is a worry. This fear seems to be justified given provisional Home Office figures for firearms offences which show an increase of 5% on last year, totalling 11,160. Almost 20% of companies were also worried by the threat of arson to their premises. Nationally, 28% were worried about ëyob cultureí, but this rose to 34% in the North of England where businesses in the region are worried about this type of anti-social behaviour.

When about the causes of crime against businesses in their area, over half of companies blamed so called ëyob cultureí. 44% blamed drugs and a further 31% cited ëbinge drinkingí as the cause.

Neil Mercier, property insurance manager at AXA Insurance said: ìOur research shows that businesses are living in fear of becoming the victims of crimes, such as burglary and anti-social behaviour. And they have just cause. According to Home Office figures, overall, violent crime, in the three months to the end of June, increased by 6% - up from 301,100 to 318,200 incidents - on the same period last year. The figures also show a 25% increase in drug offences and a 4% rise in robberies. And the problem could get worse when new licensing laws allowing 24-hour drinking come into force in November. The companies we surveyed are already blaming binge-drinking for fuelling violent crime.

The results of AXAís last quarterly Business Crime Index* tracked an increase of 24% in the number of crime related business insurance claims settled during the second quarter of 2005 when compared to the first three months of the year.

AXA offers a free crime prevention toolkit designed to help businesses protect themselves against criminal activity. The AXA Business Security Blueprint provides best practice advice on everything from securing windows and doors to CCTV and fire suppression systems. It can be downloaded free of charge from www.axa4business.co.uk.