Four Ways to Keep Your Business Premises Secure

If you’ve recently moved to a new business premises, you’re likely looking for ways to keep your premises secure. Commercial properties are often targets for criminal and antisocial activity, with things like theft and vandalism occurring relatively regularly. 

With proper security, you’ll be able to effectively protect your business premises from unwanted attention. Here are four ways you can do that. 

1. CCTV

CCTV is a basic security measure that all businesses should have, and most do. The issue is, a lot of CCTV systems are grainy at best, and that makes identifying potential suspects tricky. If your commercial property doesn’t have an up-to-date system, it’s a priority that you invest in one. Not only will the video quality be better, but the system itself will be more secure, making it harder to get around if anyone tries to trip the system. Where possible, you should also look for a system with sound because in tricky situations, it could be the audio that allows you to accurately identify a sequence of events. 

In terms of CCTV placement, you should always have cameras at every door on your premises. If you have a cash register or till point, you should put cameras there, too. You might also choose to put cameras in corners of rooms such as stock rooms. 

2. ANPR 

It’s not just the inside of your property that you need to protect, it’s the car park, too. In large cities, car parking spaces can be hard to come by which means many motorists try and squeeze themselves into any available spot. The issue arises when your staff have nowhere to park. In addition, when you close your doors at night, the last thing you want is to come in to debris in the morning in the car park. 

You can easily prevent car park abuse and vandalism with an ANPR camera. It’s a type of CCTV that records vehicles as they enter your car park and it automatically makes a note of the registration plate. This is means you can track who is using your car park and at what time, and you can arrange further enforcement if necessary. 

3. Alarms 

In addition to CCTV, it might seem like basic security for business premises to have alarms installed. Despite this seemingly obvious security measure, many businesses don’t have alarms and rely on simple locks and keys to protect them effectively – which they don’t. First and foremost, alarms act as a deterrent for up to 60% of burglars, so it stands to reason that if your business has a clear alarm system, it’s far less likely to be targeted for antisocial and illegal behavior. 

Aside from being an initial turn-off, alarms are effective at scaring burglars off if they do activate it. The loud noise can spark panic which means most burglars will seek to vacate the area as quickly as possible in order to avoid getting caught. 

There are a number of different alarm systems that you can invest in, but it’s always a good idea to have one near the main entrance that needs to be manually switched off. Most alarms will automatically alert either the security company or the police, so you can rest assured that if something does go wrong, the relevant authorities will investigate and minimize potential damage immediately. 

4. Lighting 

Noise deters vandals, and so does light. You’re likely to be at your premises during the day which is enough of a deterrent throughout daylight hours, but night time is the perfect opportunity for opportunistic mischief makers to strike. Avoid this by installing automatic flood lights. They will better assist your CCTV cameras, but they will also make it abundantly clear to passers by that someone is trying to tamper with your property, and that’s a risk most people won’t take. 

Summary 

Implement these four tips and keep your business premises and the contents/people within it safe and secure at all times.