Betting Shops Safer Than Food Stores, Clothes Shops and Pubs

Earlier this year the betting industry faced criticism around its approach to security. However figures from the British Police suggest that betting shops have some of the lowest crime levels amongst all high street retailers. The figures show that the betting industry is on a par with fast food establishments, having seen fewer incidents than bars, clothes shops, and even food stores.

The Association of British Bookmakers( ABB) requested the statistics from the British Police using Freedom of information legislation. Although the official statistics released by Britain’s police forces will seem surprising to many, the figures have demonstrated that the industry’s approach to security is having a positive impact on crime levels.

At William Hillwe take security very seriously and we make significant investment to ensure we have a rigid procedure in place. We have won a number of awards and we work closely with the Police to ensure a safe environment. In 2011, William Hillwas the recipient of the Security Industry award for Counter Plan training and one of our security managers was voted as security manager of the year.

Our Security Investigators are accredited risk assessors and we have an on-going, estate-wide programme during which levels of risk are assessed and security provisions reviewed. As well as instigating reactive steps, we also take proactive measures to protect the welfare of our colleagues and this will continue to remain our focus.

Our safety measures vary, depending on risk assessments, but we have CCTV across all shops, with security screens also deployed across 83% of our shops.

Robbery figures in 2013 were the lowest recorded since before 2005, with a 25% decrease between 2012-2013. This is also mirrored in police statistics.
The Metropolitan Police report a reduction in LBO crime of 42.7% between 2010 and 2013.

The number of incidents and crimes reported between January 1 and December 31, 2013: