When asked about safety of their companies almost two thirds of the business owners (65%) said they would actually consider taking the law into their own hands to protect their company.
Interestingly, almost half of the business owners questioned (47%) were either confident or very confident in the police to do their jobs even after the Government cutbacks. However, more than a quarter (26%) did think their businesses were at more risk of crime due to them.
Paul Evison, marketing manager for Storage Options commented: This research was commissioned in the first week of August before the terrible events we saw spreading across the country and I think it shows how small business owners were feeling about their overall security. Although most people said they would consider protecting their companies many felt that the police were still doing a great job. I think it would be interesting to see how this research would compare with research performed today. We have seen CCTV sales grow rapidly over the last couple of years and this research found that 67% of companies already have some kind of CCTV system in their business as a deterrent, it certainly shows we are a security conscious nation.
The research also revealed that a third of business owners (33%) felt their businesses would be more secure with a private security guard but then one in ten admitted they didnt trust security guards.
Paul added: It seems as a nation we want to feel properly protected but dont trust others to do it for us. I imagine most businesses across the country have now reviewed their own security carefully to ensure they arent at risk.
The research also found that almost half of all the business owners questioned (44%) had unfortunately been the victims of crime, before with more than a third (34%) stating that it had been more than on four separate occasions.
The survey of 1,000 business owners was commissioned by Storage Options in August 2011.
