€8,700: Average cost of crime for small businesses

Small businesses are spending an average of €7,350 per annum on security against a backdrop of constant attacks from more sophisticated criminals, according to the Small Firms Association.

Mon, 12 May, 2014 - 01:00

Catherine Shanahan

Publishing the results of its National Business Crime survey, the SFA said the costs incurred per single incident of crime ranged from €80 to €200,000, with the average cost being €8,728.

The survey found 48% of firms had experienced an increase in crime in the past two years, with theft of cash up notably from 24% in 2012 to 30% in 2014. Almost two in five firms reported being victims of crime in the past two years and half said they had been victims of crime on three or more occasions.

According to the SFA, the survey indicates that, as crime becomes more sophisticated, firms are putting more complex security systems in place. The use of CCTV has increased to over 60%, while electronic access control systems have risen to nearly 48%.

Firms also use alternative security services such as mobile and static security patrols, guard dogs, and key holding services. The use of intruder alarms remains the most common security system, with nearly 84% of firms having such a system.

SFA assistant director Avine McNally said the business community was “under constant attack from planned professional criminality”. “There is an enormous psychological price being paid by business people, as crime is now more organised, more professional, more ruthless, and more pervasive,” she said.

Over the past two years, small firms have increasingly become the victims of a range of scams, identity fraud, phishing, and data theft. Almost one in five of all respondents were victims of scams, with an average cost per incident of €2,715.

In order to reduce the cost and incidence of crime, the SFA is calling for a strategy for the penal system “so that it provides an effective deterrent” and rehabilitation of offenders to prevent reoffending. The SFA also calls for more rigorous application of the law to all forms of crime.