Over the coming weeks it is possible that your shop/place of business will be closed for a prolonged period.  With this in mind, we’d like to offer some advice & guidance to minimise any loss through acquisitive crime.  These principles can assist you in reducing the opportunity for crime to occur; it’s not a case of having to use all of the 10 Principles at once, you may find using just one of them could help you or it may be a combination of several of them.

When you are looking at using the principles of crime prevention to improve security around your business, the best way to approach it is to look at your home or premises as if you were the offender.  Identify the weak spots, vulnerable areas and concealment points and prioritise the areas for improvement.

The 10 Principles of Crime Prevention are:

1.Target Hardening – Making your property harder for an offender to access

• Upgrading the locks on your doors, windows, sheds and outbuildings. Use a professional locksmith who is a member of the Master Locksmiths Association (MLA)
• Always set the intruder alarm. If you don’t have one think about installing one.  Use a professional installer who is a member of the National Security Inspectorate or the Security Systems & Alarm Inspection Board
• Using secure passwords to prevent criminals hacking your online accounts
• Use Anti-Climb measures such as anti-vandal paint to make it more difficult for intruders to enter the grounds or your premises

2. Target Removal – Ensuring that a potential target is out of view.

• Not leaving items on view through your windows – i.e. laptops, phones, keys, bags
• Moving valuable items from a window display
• Removing all cash from the premises

3. Reducing the Means – Removing items that may help commit an offence.

• Not leaving tools and ladders available for criminals to use
• Keeping wheelie bins out of reach, as they may be a climbing aid or help transport items
• Making sure that bricks and rubble are cleared up

4. Reducing the Payoff – Reducing the profit the criminal can make from the offence.

• Security marking your property
• Marking your property in such a way that others will not want to buy from the thief
• Not buying property you believe or suspect to be stolen

5. Access Control – Looking at measures that will control access to a location

• Locking your doors and windows to both your buildings and any vehicles
• Ensuring that gates, fencing, hedges, walls and other boundary treatments are in a good state of repair
• Putting a security system in place at a commercial site (entry barriers, electronic fob access, ID cards etc)

6. Surveillance – Improving surveillance around businesses to deter criminals

• Removing high hedges / fences at the front that allows an offender to work unseen
• Consider adding CCTV to a commercial site or public place
• Install good lighting around the building and in any parking area. Eliminating hiding spots is a good way to prevent anyone from sneaking around the area

7. Environmental Change – Ensuring your property and wider community looks cared for

• Ensuring that graffiti and domestic/commercial waste is cleared up
• Reporting issues with fly-tipping or broken street lights to the relevant authority

8. Rule Setting – Changing habits by setting rules and positioning signage in appropriate locations

• Introducing a rule that the last person entering / leaving should lock the door and remove the keys
• Informing visitors to commercial sites that they must report to reception on arrival
• Informing users that a particular site is closed between certain times and should not be accessed

9. Increase the Chances of Being Caught – Increasing the likelihood that an offender will be caught to prevent crime occurring

• Making use of dusk to dawn security lighting is in place and in working order
• Using good quality CCTV and/or alarm systems, especially on commercial sites and public places
• Upgrading security to delay an offender, meaning they have to spend more time to gain access

10. Deflecting Offenders – Deterring an offender or deflecting their intention

• Using timer switches to make buildings look occupied if vacant after the hours of darkness
• Running youth diversionary schemes with partner agencies
• Referring offenders to drug rehabilitation programmes

If the building is likely to remain unoccupied it will be worth checking the terms & conditions of your insurance policy.  We would advise that you make frequent checks on your business premises whilst adhering to the Government guidance on social distancing.

Additional Advice & Guidance from North Wales Police:

https://www.north-wales.police.uk/advice-and-support/stay-safe/covid-19

Please follow us on Social Media for updates and local information:

   

David Williams
Designing Out Crime Officer
Community Safety

Tel: 01745 588893 – Ext: 88893
Mobile: 07880 156970
Email: david.williams8@nthwales.pnn.police.uk

DVSC is delighted to share some great news.

In October, DVSC signed the license to operate Ruthin Market Hall on Market Street with Denbighshire County Council. And this week Welsh Government announced that DVSC was one of the successful award winners of the Foundational Economy Challenge Fund to help us on our social enterprise journey.

Helen Wilkinson, Chief Executive at DVSC says: “We are very excited to bring this Grade 2 listed building back to life after the retirement of the license holders earlier this year. This is a key opportunity for us to help support inclusive economic growth in Ruthin and the outlying area and provide a platform to engage the local community, artisans, voluntary groups, Third Sector Organisations, social enterprises and local businesses.”

The Market Hall will be run as a Social Enterprise with any surplus generated reinvested for the benefit of the community. DVSC intends to host a regular market involving makers, artisans, artists, local business and the voluntary and community sector. The space will also be available for hire for pop up events and activities.

Helen Wilkinson explains: “We want to work with and inspire local people as we go

on this exciting journey. We are looking to develop our plans in partnership with local people, so we are planning one or two public engagement events before Christmas. Then, in the new year, we will test run a couple of concepts, as we ask for more input from the public during further engagement events. If all goes to plan, we hope that the Market Hall will formally launch in Spring.”

A first brainstorm about the Market Hall is planned during the Co-Production Workshop DVSC is holding next Monday 18th November at the Naylor Leyland Centre.

Keep an eye on our social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn) and follow our Eventbrite page to be notified of future public engagement events.

If you are interested in getting involved and want to volunteer by offering your time or skills please contact Mair, DVSC’s Volunteering and Wellbeing Development Officer or Gareth, #DenbighshireVolunteers Support Officer, engagement@dvsc.co.uk or
call 01824 702 441.

Better still pop in to meet us in person at the Naylor Leyland Centre, Well Street, Ruthin from 08.30am to 4.00pm Monday to Friday.

People can also get involved in Open Doors activities – which take place on Fridays from 1.00pm till 3.00pm at the Naylor Leyland Centre. Open Doors participants will be showcasing some of their work at one of our public engagement events in the Market Hall before Christmas. DVSC looks forward to welcoming everyone to this great building and to hearing people’s views.

You can see Helen’s interview with Welsh Government colleagues here:

Naylor Leyland Centre
Well Street, Ruthin, Denbighshire, LL15 1AF
Tel: 01824 702441
e.mail: office@dvsc.co.uk
website www.dvsc.co.uk

This information is courtesy of Welsh Government  https://businesswales.gov.wales/news-and-blogs/news/brexit-resilience-fund

The Welsh Government has formally launched a £1million Brexit Resilience Fund which is available to Welsh businesses, to help them adapt to the changes in a post-Brexit Welsh economy.

Business Wales is offering eligible businesses the opportunity to apply for funding of between £10,000 and £100,000 up to 50% of project costs.

The Brexit Resilience Fund aims to:

• develop capacity
• improve processes
• retain competitiveness
• safeguard jobs
• guarantee the trade flows between Wales and the rest of the world

To apply, businesses must:

• be registered to trade in Wales.
• register with Business Wales and complete the Brexit Toolkit on application
• be able to demonstrate that the funding will contribute to safeguarding jobs
• have been trading for 12 months or more on the day of application

If your business meets the above criteria and has a project in mind that would help you build resilience and cope with the changes you may face post Brexit, this fund is for you.

For further information and to apply please call 03000 6 03000 where you will be put in touch with an adviser to complete the application process.

The Business Wales Brexit Resilience Fund is open to applications until 31 March 2020, funds permitting.

 

Social media gives independent businesses an opportunity to grow their business, to connect and engage not only with current customers, but also with potential customers. Digital technology levels the playing field and gives small businesses the same opportunities as their larger competitors. Being proactive with social media is very important so communication needs to be in real time and addressed quickly.

The most important tip for social media is to target the correct media channels and develop an informative and interactive communication strategy. This engages and drives the customers to a deeper understanding of your brand and ultimately drives them to purchase more from you.

This quick guide will help you decide which social media platform to use and how to create great content to showcase your business.

Which ones for your business?

FACEBOOK is the main social network. It is used daily by millions of people to keep in touch, share photos and interact. View Facebook as you would view talking to your customers face to face. You can have a personal page, a business page, or set up or join a group.

Examples of use:

• Upload photographs and a video
• Share a paragraph about a new product and services.
• Update your page with your latest range.
• Share your new promotions.
• Promote events.
• Sell from Facebook either via posting, albums or a Facebook shop.
• Set up competitions.
• post live video which is a great way to showcase your brand.

 

INSTAGRAM: With 400 million users and over 80 million posts per day, Instagram has become an essential element of social media marketing for business.  On Instagram your message reaches consumers where they follow their passions and explore the world through imagery.  For these reasons Instagram is a highly relevant environment to share your business’s story or showcase your products, apps or services.

Examples of use:

• Upload photos and videos of your products
• Upload photos of your staff  and customers wearing or using your products
• Upload photos of your business at different times of the year
• Add images and video to stories which last for 24 hours, these can be customised to showcase your brand’s creativity.

 

PINTEREST: A channel where you ‘pin’ photos of products and things you like. It is very visual and great to showcase product photos. Use this channel as a visual representation of your business.  Pinterest comes up in product searches via search engines so it’s a great way to link to customers that are ready to purchase.

Examples of use:

• Open a page as a person and set up a ‘board’ with products you like – include yours and others
• Open a page as your business and share your images as well as those that inspire your brand.
• Link your product images to your web site so customers can shop directly.
• Add a pin it link to your website product pictures so customers can add these to their own boards; this means your products are shared to a wider audience.

 

TWITTER: Quick and short updates. Is often used for quick promotions, headlines from blogs, key messages from a brand and to interact with customers. Customer service issues are often highlighted on Twitter – so keep an eye on it.

Examples of use:

• Share the latest images of your products
• Update on daily deals
• Share a customer’s best opinions
• Ask for feedback on the latest adverts
• Share the latest events
• Link to articles your customers will find interesting

 

YOUTUBE: Shared video channel. Is very useful for ‘how to’ videos and to really showcase your business.

Examples of use:

• Take a video of people using a rage of your products
• Film ‘how to guides’ that explains how to use the product in real life
• Make a film to promote your brand

 

LINKEDIN: Business networking and sharing of professional information. It is not used

extensively in marketing but used as a professional business person or as a business. Good for business to business networking and good for recruitment.

Examples of use:

• Ensure you have a personal LinkedIn page with your history and details
• Ensure you have a business page with your details
• Use the page to share links to your blogs and sometimes your products

 

How to create great content?

As you post/tweet updates, photos and more think about what your customers find interesting and inspiring.

• Know your brand – ensure you always write in the style of your brand. Over time your customers get to know your brand style – they trust and become comfortable with it. This should be reflected in everything you do, from the tone of your emails, to the wording in your tweets, to the colours in your pictures.
• Know your customer – knowing your customer is key. If you do not know them well enough you won’t be able to interact with them in a way that fits their wants, needs and desires.
• Be authentic.  Share what you’re genuinely excited about and your customers will be excited too.
• Be responsive.  When people comment, show that your business is listening and that you care.  If you need more time to answer a question, let them know that you’re looking into it.
• Be consistent.  the more regularly you post, the greater an opportunity you have for connecting with people and building trust.  Setting a schedule for your posts can also help to maximise your team’s time.
• Do what works. Replicate your success on posts that get more engagement.
• Ensure keywords are included – understanding your keywords is critical to generating content – you must research them well and use them in every tweet, blog and Facebook update.
• Impactful and enticing content – make sure your content is interesting to ensure customers read it and click through.
• Use images and videos – ‘an image tells a thousand words’. Include pictures either that represent your business, or your business behind the scenes, or your products & services.  Use videos if you have a great story and want to share a message over a wider audience.

Remember – your recipe for success is to create page posts and adverts that are interesting and valuable to your customers, and to target your messages so that the right people see them.

 

 

Facebook Tips

Self-generated content such as blog or website articles, website links, promoting your own products and services.

• Articles others have written and you can link to – things that will interest your customers, that may help them.
• News from local business or news about the local area that may be important or of interest to your customers.
• Following businesses, agencies and other influencers can help you generate content, you can share and link into what others are saying.

Instagram Tips

Images have always been used for visual communication on Instagram and today we are seeing more & more video on the platform.  For brands a strong visual voice is the key to driving real business results on the platform.

• Your visuals should be well branded, story driven, carefully crafted and, of course, well targeted.
• Instagram is driven by #hashtags; these should be relevant to the visual and your target audience.
• As you cannot have a clickable link in a post, drive people to click the link in your Bio.
• If you are product based, use the ‘tag a product’ feature to link the customer to purchase directly from your website.

Twitter Tips

A concise tweet makes an impact. Keep each tweet focused on one specific message rather than trying to communicate multiple things.

• Hashtags are a powerful tool that allow you to expand your reach and tap into relevant conversations. Focus on keywords relevant to your business. Best practice recommends using no more than two hashtags per tweet.

• Retweeting relevant content and replying to tweets are great ways to maintain a robust Twitter presence. Positive customer feedback, helpful articles, and messages that align with your business’s authentic voice are all impactful content to re-tweet.

This article is part of a series of interviews  giving examples of the range of great businesses there are in our town centres.

Trefor Jones clothes shop

Tudor Jones is the owner of Trefor Jones clothes shop in Ruthin, a well-established family-run business which has been open for 40 years.

The firm offers a range of top-quality menswear including casualwear, formalwear, footwear, wedding hire and accessories.

Mr Jones, whose father founded the business, said: “We are a well-established local brand. We work hard and we have a diverse customer base. We try and have a diverse range in the shop, you have to move on and be flexible.

“It is important to move forward and stay relevant, we have a very busy hire department and we have moved into footwear. You have got to have different things going on, we don’t sell as many suits as we did 20 years ago. It is about diversification and still keeping quality products, being different from multi-nationals. Having knowledge and experience and being able to help our customers helps us get repeat custom. We have a reputation and we get customers from the Wirral, Cheshire and the coast.

“There is a great business community in Ruthin. Online shopping isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. People still want to try things on, they want to touch and feel a product.

“In places like Ruthin there are nice places to eat, there is history to the town. It is a destination as well, shoppers can come to us and spend an afternoon in the town.”