Creating a secure future
A hotel on the outskirts of Cardiff was blacklisted by a major client because of excessive car crime, despite being ideal for business purposes. An establishment with a reputation for thefts in the lobby, burglaries from the bedrooms and cars stolen from the car park is not likely to attract custom.
The hotel installed better lighting and signage, provided regular patrols and improved the fencing and hedgerows surrounding the property: incidents dropped to zero. Car crime moved to the nearest competitor hotel, followed by an immediate dive in occupancy figures there.
Depending on the clientele, proprietors will know that their overseas guests - particularly Japanese, Israeli, American and, to some extent, Arab - expect high levels of security. Such prospective customers will often review the quality of the hotel's security, either overtly or covertly, before booking accommodation.
Hotels at Gatwick and Heathrow have recently attracted substantial Arab and Japanese business as a result of their demonstrable security precautions. Night patrolling, closed circuit television (CCTV), access control, security instructions and the presence of a security manager or operative comfort guests who feel threatened. Visible security can achieve a competitive edge for your business and deter criminals.
The most important advances in hotel security over the past 10 years have been the development of electronic magnetic stripe key-card hotel door locking, and CCTV. The ability to read door accesses and extract an audit trail from the lock has proved invaluable as an investigative tool and as a deterrent to would-be in-house thieves. Of 100 investigations into alleged hotel bedroom thefts over a two-year period, nearly all those that were successfully concluded relied on information gleaned from the lock reading.
Law enforcement and crime prevention has benefited from recent developments and improvements in CCTV technology. Hotel and catering businesses have effectively used the technology to combat crime in car parks and reception areas, in point of sale supervision, and to monitor bar lounges and storage areas.
Some roadside restaurants were being regularly broken into and there were several incidents of arson attacks. The installation of burglar alarms and CCTV reduced the crime rate by nearly 90%.
Similar reductions were achieved at a hotel in a very high crime area of Manchester which, like Cardiff, had a severe car park problem. Lighting, CCTV, redesigning the area and a security patrol were all employed, virtually cutting out crime within five months.
Reductions in crime are usually between 20% and 30%. But it is not only guest security that can be improved. Theft by staff and guests can be reduced by introducing proactive security measures, such as creating a security position.
One London hotel did that last year. Although there were no spectacular arrests for major crime in the hotel, just the occasional theft from the bar, and although the usual reported crime in the public areas was not affected significantly, there was a 5% increase in profit in the food and beverage operation reported by the general manager. That was worth about £250,000 - the security manager cost about £35,000 with salary and related expenses.
Delivery and delivery note signing and control were all enforced positively. Prospective employees were screened before engagement and a staff security awareness programme was vigorously and positively supported by management.
Another option is to use fraud prevention packages, including anti-fraud software, which enables businesses to make pre-emptive strikes against fraud.
There is an increasing tendency in some businesses to rely on insurance to cover loss by theft, fraud or negligence. A laissez-faire environment encourages the villain. The honest employee will wonder if there is any point in bringing dishonest behaviour to attention. Such a person will probably become disillusioned and will look for employment elsewhere.
Howard Jones is a senior consultant with Network Security Management and can be reached on 0171-344 8105.
