Police fail to attend nearly 60% of reported crimes by small businesses

Police forces failed to attend 59% of crimes reported by small businesses, according to new research by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).

The FSB’s ’Cracking the Crime’ report, published today, found that an overwhelming 4.1 million of small businesses have been affected by at least one crime between January 2021 and January 2023, up by 49% from the same period between 2017 and 2019.

It revealed that close to a half (48%) of small businesses believed the police did not investigate after the initial response, with 3% claiming that the police investigated, identified and arrested the perpetrators.

Amid increased reports of organised shoplifting, some businesses said they feel it is wrongly seen as an “acceptable business cost” and are under the impression that there is a threshold of £200 to trigger police investigations.

“They’re massive repeat offenders who are tolerated. It might be fine for the perpetrators but it’s not fine for you if you’re a small operator.” one FSB member based in Southeast England said.

Tina McKenzie policy chair for the FSB highlighted the countless reports of organised shoplifting they have received over the past year, and how the study emphasises how serious and unprecedented the problem is.

“This is certainly not what we need at a time when we look to grow our economy and the start-up landscape. Witnessing our small high-street shops and independent businesses losing their hard-earned money because these crimes are overlooked by authorities is disheartening, not to mention the mental toll on small business owners and their staff.

“Small businesses are actively taking measures to protect themselves. But the extent of crime and the severity of damage to our economy are far beyond what they can control. The small business and self-employed community can’t be left to fend for themselves against organised crime. We need to see not only firmer and swifter action from the police and the Government, but also politicians standing for the next General Election to make business crime a priority in their manifesto and show that they place these 5.5 million voters at heart.”

It also found that six in ten (65%) of small businesses have invested in one measure to protect themselves against crimes, such as installing or updating security, initiating a training programme and improved insurance cover.