The main types of crime suffered by businesses include arson, burglary, fraud, graffiti, Internet crime, malicious damage, personal violence, robbery, shoplifting, theft by staff, vehicle damage and vehicle theft.

In the retail sector 23% of businesses had experienced between one and three incidents of fraud in the previous 12 months and 19% had suffered similar levels of graffiti. The retail sector was not surprisingly markedly more exposed to this type of crime than any other sector.

Overall 28% of retail/distribution companies reported suffering one or more incident of shoplifting while a number of organisations reported ‘victimisation’ manifesting in more than 10 incidents in the 12-month period.

The retail/distribution sector also suffered more than most from personal violence with 6% experiencing between one and three incidents. Only 2% of companies in manufacturing or services experienced this level of personal abuse.

Staff theft was a fairly even 10-14% of companies across all sectors suffering between one and three incidents.

Retailers fared well however when it came to Internet crime as they were totally unaffected by it. Whereas 6-7% of businesses in the manufacturing and services sectors experienced between one and three incidents.

For further information on the report (published by The Open University Business School and sponsored by Lloyds Bank) please contact b.porter-blake@open.ac.uk or tel 01908 655831