Business crime costs £12.6bn, says BCC

09/04/2008

Crime is costing businesses around £12.6bn a year, a new report by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has found.

The group said the figure has gone up by 20% since the last survey in 2004, with business crime now making up over a sixth of the total cost of all crime in the UK.

The BCC said it had joined forces with other Chambers of Commerce to write to the Home Secretary, calling on the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) to make cutting business crime a Key Performance Indicator (KPI). They added that at present there is no indicator for the police to record business crime.

According to the BCC, the business community has a 'worrying' lack of confidence in the police, with 85% of the survey's respondents saying making business crime a KPI is 'crucial' to getting the police to fully engage in cutting business crime from its current level.

David Frost, the BCC's chief executive, said crimes against business have a damaging impact on both the economic growth and the future prosperity of local areas.

"This survey has laid bare the growing cost of business crime and exposed some fundamental flaws in the way business crime is handled by the police," he added.

"The result of these flaws has meant increasing numbers of businesses are losing confidence in the police's ability to address their concerns about crime.

"The absence of a national definition for business crime, from which police forces can record instances of criminal activity, is an issue which needs addressing. The government must work closely with the business community if they truly want to clamp down on the growing problem," he said.