Nottingham’s Business Improvement District (BID) – the organisation that aims to boost income for businesses by attracting more visitors to the city centre – has appointed its first business crime reduction ambassador in a move aimed at helping city centre shops and leisure outlets to tackle shoplifting and other offences.
Twenty-three-year-old Andrew Evans, originally from Scunthorpe, was previously working as a Loss Prevention Officer for Asda in Hull before moving to Nottingham to take up this newly created role.
“Working within the BID’s ambassadorial team, the role of the business crime reduction ambassador is to act as the liaison point between the BID, our members and other agencies in strengthening business crime reduction initiatives in the city,” explains Neil Fincham, director of the BID and centre manager of The Exchange. “This involves collating intelligence and information from BID members about well-known shoplifters, counterfeit banknotes or other scams, for example, and sharing the details where appropriate. And, Andy will work closely with the BID’s partners, such as the Nottinghamshire Police and Nottingham City Council, to develop a partnership approach to business crime reduction.”
Having recently taken over responsibility for crime reduction initiatives in the city, the Nottingham BID has also invested in a new state-of-the-art digital radio system which Andy will manage. This is aimed at linking people, businesses and partners across the city centre to facilitate the prompt sharing of information.
The news of Andy’s appointment comes at a time when Notts Police Crime Commissioner Paddy Tipping has called for retailers to be empowered to catch thieves, following a report by Nottinghamshire Police that Nottingham has had the fourth highest percentage increase in shoplifting crime across the UK – a rise of 25% from April to August.
“Shop crime has actually been on the decrease for the past five years, but like most other city centres, Nottingham has its fair share of misdemeanours,” adds Andy Evans. “I’m looking forward to sharing my knowledge and past experience and helping to co-ordinate many joined-up approaches that aim to reduce crime in the city.”
