Dangerous locations

On a chill Wednesday afternoon in January, an argument broke out between a group of men who were dining in Nando's chicken restaurant in Shepherd's Bush, London. A gun was produced and four shots fired. One man was killed and a waitress injured. According to Nando's official statement, the restaurant "was in the wrong place at the wrong time".

"I had moved to England two-and-a-half years ago," says manager Louis Cruz. "I didn't know anything about London. The people around here are getting worse. It's the gangs that create the problems."

A restaurant gaining a foothold in an undesirable but developing area may have the allure of cheap rent and an affluent future. But if that area is still in the up-and-coming stage, it could be that the BMWs cruising the streets are more likely to be owned by local drug pushers and pimps than ideal customers.

Before dashing out to buy a bullet-proof vest, however, a little perspective is needed. Shootings in restaurants are rare, almost unheard-of. Milder forms of aggression, it seems, come with the turf.

Take Bradford. For many, it conjures up shocking images of last year's riots, when news footage showed police under attack from gangs throwing missiles and petrol bombs. Hardly the ideal spot for a Michelin-starred restaurant, says Robert Barbour, who co-owned the one-star Restaurant 19 before he bailed out three years ago. "We were in a residential area and surrounded by gangs of Asian youths. A few of them kept coming into the reception area and demanding a table. I knew very well they didn't want one, and then they would say: ‘You won't give me a table because I'm Asian'."

Customers' cars were being repeatedly vandalised, so Barbour employed a boy to keep an eye on the car park, but this just caused more trouble. "The next thing we knew, there was a gang in the garden with sticks and they came into the kitchen. We called the police and they scattered. I just got really nervy and fed up with it all," he says.

Born and bred in Bradford, Dean Loynes opened the 54-seat Brass restaurant in the city centre in June. He believes the city has a future and brushes off the question of added security. "In real terms it's not a violent area. The property here is cheaper than anywhere in West Yorkshire. Bradford has just under-achieved in the past," he says.

Loynes is banking on the area attracting more business from surrounding neighbourhoods, spurred on by a £200m development in Broadway and Petergate. The 16-acre site, with shops, restaurants and two precincts, will be the city's biggest building project in 40 years.

Regeneration projects can bring a huge boost to the local economy. But it can be hard to predict when you will reap the rewards or what type of businesses will surround you. Chef and restaurateur Terry Laybourne opened his restaurant, Café 21, in Newcastle's Queen Street in 1988. It became the city's sole Michelin-starred restaurant. "When I first opened on the quayside, it was fairly desolate. Naively, I thought the regeneration programme was going to take 18 months," he says.

When the area did take off, almost five years later, the street became crammed with rowdy bars, and it dawned on Laybourne that he was going to have to adapt. "I felt the beer culture could be intimidating to [our] customers. So we dumbed down and changed the product to suit the customers," he says.

Few restaurants do much more in the way of security than installing CCTV. Yet bars and restaurants in London's Covent Garden have clubbed together to pay for extra police officers to patrol the area. At the cost of £2,100 a week, two extra bobbies are on patrol from 2pm to 4am on Thursdays to Saturdays.

Nando's, is one restaurant chain that has swallowed the expense of employing security guards in some of its restaurants. While having a bouncer on the door can certainly deter undesirables, it's a pricey business: the average cost is about £10 per hour. The group also has installed panic buttons and trains its managers in how to deal with aggression.

Picking an area that is unlikely to attract a host of bars, although no guarantee to a trouble-free life, can cut down on alcohol-related crime and vandalism. Paul Heathcote owns five restaurants in the North of England, including Simply Heathcotes outlets in Preston, Liverpool and Manchester. "I tend to go for a location slightly off the main street, as I feel that the couple who have just had dinner in my restaurant don't really want an 18-year-old being sick on their Mercedes."

Conflict management

As a rule, the hospitality industry is good at training its staff in customer care but often falls short of providing staff with the know-how to deal with aggression and conflict from customers. "Many employers forget that if they fail to train their staff, they may leave themselves open to litigation from the staff and customers," says Bill Fox, managing director of Maybo, a specialist company in aggression management training.

Prevention, incident response and post-incident support should all be included in training.

Prevention

• H Use CCTV on entrances, back doors and tills.
• H Vary banking times and methods and ensure back doors are locked when cashing up.
• H Identify and reduce common causes of conflict with customers.
• H Develop links with other local businesses and the police.
• H Discourage problem elements including:
• • Those seeking an "office" for illegitimate activities
• • Aggressive beggars
• • Drug users (including deterring the use of toilets for this purpose).

Incident Response

• Train managers and staff in how to stay calm and resolve conflict.
• Put personal safety first.
• Plan and practise your team response to incidents.

Post-Incident support

• Report all violent crimes.
• Secure witnesses and evidence, such as CCTV.
• Have support mechanisms in place for staff who may be traumatised.

Contacts

Maybo
Aggression management trainingwww.maybo.com
01932 254160

Considering a bouncer?

The average cost to hire a bouncer, according to the Association of Door Supervisors and Body Guards (ADSBG) is £10 per hour. Anyone employed as a door supervisor should have undergone training accredited by the local council. Typically, this training covers social skills, refusing entry, eviction, use of force, dealing with drugs, first aid and dealing with emergencies.

They should also carry a badge with an ID photograph.

Contacts

Association of Door Supervisors and Bodyguards 0118 989 2244
For a listing of certified door supervisors and bodyguards see the Association's Web site:www.springson.com

Insuring against crime

If looking at property in an area with a high rate of crime, don't forget to check out your insurance costs. A recent study by the British Chamber of Commerce puts the hotel and catering industry at the top of the list of business crime victims in the UK, placing them in a high-risk category.

Property insurance There are many ways in which property can be damaged: fire, theft, storm, riot, burst pipes, malicious damage, earthquake, explosion, aircraft and impact. A standard fire-and-theft policy is the minimum required in business.

Employer's liability Since 1 January 1972, every employer conducting business in the UK has had to insure against liability for bodily injury or disease sustained by employees and arising from their employment.

Public liability While not compulsory, the cover provides compensation for those who may have to pay damages and legal costs in the event of a claim by a member of the public if they have suffered injury or damage through coming into contact with the business and its operations.

Interruption insurance If you have to close your business down for some time, this will cover for loss of profits and will relate to a pre-agreed indemnity period deemed the maximum time needed to get the business back to full strength.