Recession 'fuels' business crime

A third of the businesses targeted by criminals did not report it

A fifth of businesses in London fell victim to some sort of crime during the last year, a survey suggests.

The report by the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry and consultancy firm ComRes blamed the "economic downturn and rising unemployment".

More than half of the 223 companies surveyed said they had lost an average of £5,000 due to crimes such as fraud, burglary, vandalism and shoplifting.

London was thought a fairly safe city for business, the survey also found.

Despite the rise in crime more than a third of the victims did not report it.

With the capital facing economic downturn and rising unemployment, our firms are more likely to be the victim of crime in the coming months Colin Stanbridge, chief executive of the LCCI

The victims treated it as a minor incident and thought the police would not take their complaints seriously, the report said.

Colin Stanbridge, chief executive of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry said: "Tackling crime against business must be a priority for our new Met Commissioner, Sir Paul Stephenson.

"With the capital facing economic downturn and rising unemployment, our firms are more likely to be the victim of crime in the coming months."

The survey also said that more than 60% of companies said their local safer neighbourhood team or Police Community Support Officers had not made themselves known to firms.

On the other hand, only about four out of ten businesses knew how to contact their local safer neighbourhood team.

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