PROTECT YOUR BUSINESS THIS CHRISTMAS

There’s been a surge in burglaries over Christmas in recent years with businesses being affected just as much as homeowners. It’s not hard to see why criminals see commercial properties as easy pickings during the festive period. Many companies shut down completely between Christmas and New Year, giving thieves a huge window of opportunity. That’s why it’s essential to make sure you’re prepared for the end-of-year break. Our comprehensive list of security tips is a great way to ensure you don’t give burglars the gift of an easy target this Christmas.

• Christmas is a busy time for visitors and deliveries, with criminals often taking advantage of this to slip into premises unnoticed. Installing an access control system is a great way to monitor people coming in and out of your business, while CCTV coverage of entrances and exits is also a good deterrent.
• Establish the locking up procedure well ahead of your last day and make sure all the relevant people are briefed. And make sure nobody’s left to secure the building on their own.
• If neighbouring businesses are open over Christmas ask them to keep an eye out for anything suspicious.
• An alarm is essential for all businesses and a monitored alarm offers even more peace of mind. With someone else keeping a keen eye on your business you’re free to relax during the break so don’t forget to let your monitoring company know your working dates over Christmas.
• If you have staff keyholders then make sure their details are correct and don’t assume everyone is contactable at all times – it is Christmas after all. Draw up a rota depending on availability if necessary. Or take the responsibility off your staff’s shoulders by considering a private security keyholder response, where a dedicated security professional responds to alarms on your behalf.
• Outdoor cameras are an effective deterrent against intruders and with a modern system from MES Systems you can monitor your property wherever you are via your smartphone or tablet.
• Security camera footage isn’t much use if thieves are using the cover of darkness, so make sure both your perimeters and your building’s exterior areas are well lit, preferably with motion sensitive lighting. Or for optimum security choose external cameras with infra-red technology.
• Criminals are looking for the easiest target possible. So if you have security systems make sure you advertise them with prominent signage. It could make opportunist thieves think twice. When you opt for a system from MES Systems, thieves know you’re serious about security.
• If you’re keeping any cash on the premises over the festive period then make sure you use an approved insurance-rated container, rated to the value of the contents. And think carefully about staffing – thieves know there’s more cash around in the run up to Christmas and will target businesses where one person is left to lock up alone.
• Keep high value items out of sight of ground floor windows. And if you’re leaving vehicles at work then empty them of all tools and other valuables and lock the keys in the safe or store them off-site.
• Finally, don’t forget to double check your insurance cover. Being broken into is bad enough. Discovering you aren’t insured is ten times worse.

Christmas is a well-deserved break for most of us after a busy year. Put our tips into practice and you can get on with the important matters at hand – like which films you’re going to watch and whether there’s room for one more (small) mince pie.

And if you’ve got any concerns about the security of your business don’t leave anything to chance – contact MES Systems today.