This week (17th March) marks the first-ever National Awareness Week for Business Crime Reduction Partnerships in the UK.

Business Crime Reduction Partnerships (BCRPs) are not for profit, subscription-based, local organisations with the purpose of preventing crime and antisocial behaviour, by uniting the local business community with local statutory services, including Police and local authority. A BCRP can be independent or part of a Business Improvement District or local authority.

To commemorate the week and recognise the important work of our BID Safety Partnership, we’ve asked some of our business champions to share how Liverpool’s BCRP benefits them:

Kirstie Stuart, Retail Risk Investigations Business Partner, River Island

How has the Liverpool BID Safety Partnership supported your business?

The BID Safety Partnership has supported us numerous times with business crime and approaches to tackling antisocial behaviours. Through attending monthly meetings, we are able to come together develop a network and share experiences, as well as get insights from the BID team. Support tools such as DISC, Link Radios and City Watch allow for us to prioritise the safety of our teams in store and easily and securely communicate with other members. 

What are the main benefits of having a local Business Crime Reduction Partnership (BCRP) in place and why would you encourage other businesses to get involved?

Having a collective approach to crime reduction within the city centre allows for us to come together and identify issues as we work toward a collective goal of a safer Liverpool city centre. The support network I have built with other retailers has proved invaluable on occasions where we have been able to support each other. The BID Policing team provide us with key points of contact for any business crime issues and can support us with tacking persistent offenders. 

Jenna Mckenzie, Loss Prevention – TJ Morris (Home Bargains)

How has the Liverpool BID Safety Partnership supported your business?

The Liverpool BID has helped me massively in supporting me in my role within our business of Loss Prevention. Offenders don’t always tend to target one certain area, when the offender has committed a crime within the boundaries of the BID the details you add to the systems help me identify loads of unknown offenders you are an excellent partnership to have. I have numerous successful convictions and obtained CBOs thanks to the BID.

What are the main benefits of having a local Business Crime Reduction Partnership (BCRP) in place and why would you encourage other businesses to get involved?

The main benefits of the BCRP is the team work that comes from working with various different companies with one aim at the end of it in the reduction of crime. I would encourage any business who is seeing a rise in crime in their businesses to join it helps to know the offenders you are dealing with and helps with the whole criming process from start to finish. Other retailers might know an offender you don’t and vice versa, sharing the knowledge between everyone is power. Keep up the good work guys.

John Hughes, Liverpool Nightlife CIC

How has the Liverpool BID Safety Partnership supported your business?

Liverpool BID Safety Partnership has been a crucial ally in supporting Liverpool’s night-time economy and Liverpool Nightlife CIC. Their proactive approach to safety and crime prevention has helped create a more secure environment for NTE businesses, staff, and visitors. Through intelligence sharing on BID radio link, funded city watch support and direct engagement between BID police and myself on behalf of the business has been a huge support.  Together with the BID we have trained hundreds of staff across multiple campaigns including personal safety, bleed control & first aid, amongst others to improve night time safety.

What are the main benefits of having a local Business Crime Reduction Partnership (BCRP) in place and why would you encourage other businesses to get involved?

Liverpool BID Safety Partnership provides an effective framework for businesses in the night time economy in dealing with crime prevention and safety. This partnership is a united front against crime and antisocial behaviour which creates a safer experience for the night time economy staff and visitors. Having this dedicated support on safety means the businesses can focus on delivering great hospitality for the city!

I strongly encourage other businesses to engage with the Liverpool BID Safety Partnership because of the benefits it brings. Their hands-on approach to safety make a real difference in protecting businesses and the wider community coming for a good night out in Liverpool!

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