UK supermarkets are constantly addressing risk in an evolving marketplace; To attract and retain customers, many supermarkets are adding products and services, but they are also increasing their risks as they do. We now see in-house pharmacies and banking as par for the course in retail environments and when a problem or crisis arises in a supermarket, retail security helps envelope safely the hazards of the events and control the consequences.
As genuine pioneers of industry leading security services to UK retailers, Kingdom Services Group are tried, tested, and trusted by some of the biggest names out there.
Using real-time data software, we captured the Kingdom results for February 2021 (shown below) for one of our biggest partners in the supermarket and retail sector. We used this data to deploy more effectively through risk vs. resource methodology.
- A total of 4132 incidents recorded across the UK
- Total stock recovered value of £73K
- 27 incidents resulting in injuries
- 13 incident types
- 1129 body cam activations
- Most incidents closed within 15 minutes
What does this data show?
- The positive impact and ROI of using guarding in retail environments effectively
- The impact of using data to determine trends to deploy officers
- of incidents remain high in the retail sector
- Body cams are proving to be a useful tool to deter & evidence
What do the next 3 years in Retail Guarding look like?
The future will be driven by data, l intelligence, and the use of digital technology to determine real guarding resource vs risk, supported with far greater law enforcement cross flow of information than currently received.
INDUSTRY We are about to transition into a new era. A downward trend in the economy may see a shift in a disorderly populace and a greater demand in private security provisions. Growth across the global security sector of 6.4% is expected over the next 3 years of which the UK is a significant contributor with jobs remaining plentiful. Due to this we expect to see a continued increase in licensed security officers as we have done in the past 3 years. Expanding urban populations and the growing perception of increased crime rates will fuel the need for heightened security. The security BS standards for the industry will be re-written over the next 3 years.
CHANGING THREATS We anticipate a rapid increase in cyber-crime where criminals are far less visible and can operate internationally with less risk for greater reward. Social media will be used far more in targeting opportunities for criminality. We anticipate a need to mitigate cyber threats related to artificial intelligence, 5G and cloud technology.
ENFORCEMENT We expect to see the police moving away from low level crime, burglaries, break ins, alarm response and site theft. Opportunity for security companies for limited police powers through CSAS.
DIGITAL Will impact the next 3 years. Security companies at the forefront of technology and data will “own” the title of “go to provider”.
TRAINING Sector specific security training will evolve over the next 3 years. Colleague skill sets are generally of a different type in retail than a traditional security officer where security, social, mental health awareness are key to tackling the different challenges while still protecting assets.
