‘We’re with you’: how a new £300k scheme tackling business crime in Leeds is growing
‘We’re only seeing growth’
A new £300,000 scheme to tackle shoplifting and business crime in Leeds city centre is growing quickly, with hundreds of businesses now signed up to the crime reduction scheme.
The Leeds Business Crime Reduction Partnership (LeedsBCRP) was launched in July, with the aim of reducing crime and improving how safe people feel in the city.
LeedsBCRP works with hundreds of businesses from both daytime and night-time economies to help police and the council take quicker action.
Two months down the line, the scheme has seen two new members of staff employed and a new crime reduction hub open at the LeedsBID offices on Briggate.
Around 300 businesses have already signed up since the launch, with LeedsBCRP planning to distribute another 100 radios as demand continues to grow.
The radios allow businesses to share information and communicate with each other, while an accompanying app provides updates about incidents across the city centre.
Andrew Cooper, Chief Executive of LeedsBID, said their team can also respond directly to businesses experiencing problems, and work with police and other statutory services.
This comes after independent Leeds business owner Damian Tapper told the Yorkshire Evening Post this week they had lost thousands of pounds of stock to shoplifting.
Andrew said the organisation wanted to ensure smaller businesses like Damian’s did not feel they were dealing with crime alone.
He told the YEP: “We’re with you, this is not acceptable.
“We don’t want to see people whose livelihoods are being impacted by a minority of people.”
The scheme is open across the city centre, including in retail, hospitality, the nighttime sector and professional businesses.
It has also introduced training in areas including de-escalation and radio use, alongside training with the police.
The organisation hopes to have a network of more than 500 businesses involved within the next year.
Andrew said LeedsBCRP is “only seeing growth” and wanting to explore new technology, including facial recognition, in partnership with police and other authorities.
“We want people to know that when they’re coming to Leeds, we’re a connected city that is welcoming and friendly,” he said.
“We’ve got a business community that’s joined up with regard to issues of crime, antisocial behaviour and shop theft.”
The scheme comes as retailers enter one of their busiest periods of the year, with LeedsBCRP saying it expects demand for the service to continue growing.
Andrew said any money generated above its levy would be reinvested into the scheme, potentially funding more staff, technology and initiatives aimed at tackling business crime.