G4S report reveals UK corporate crime hot spots

31 May 08

The G4S Corporate Risk Report, which uses data from CAP Index’s CRIMECAST® System2, reveals that of the FTSE 350’s 20 most vulnerable locations for company headquarters, half are situated outside London.

G4S has analysed the potential vulnerability of the headquarters of every FTSE 350 company, highlighting the importance of risk mapping when companies decide where to locate. The system combines criminology information such as police incident data and client loss reports with statistics and demographic data (such as population and housing data) to produce measurable CAP Index Scores. Categories for the CAP Scores include crime risk for violence, sexual offences, robbery, burglary, theft, fraud, criminal damage, crimes against property and drugs-related activities.

The results reveal that, on a sector basis, the prevalence of telecommunications companies in high risk areas means that this sector has an average CAP Index score of 489, almost five times the CAP Index base of 100 (demonstrating its relative vulnerability to crime risk). At the other end of the scale, companies in the technology hardware and equipment sector are least at risk.

The five sectors most at risk are telecommunications (with an average Cap Index score of 489), retail (402), general financial (329), tobacco (314) and oil and gas production (308). Those five sectors deemed to be at least risk are electronic and electrical equipment (138), aerospace and defence (123), household goods (120), electricity (64) and technology hardware and equipment (48) Source: CRIMECAST® from CAP Index, March 2008

The company with the single worst CAP Index rating is a ‘general financial’ firm with a CAP Index score of 809, more than eight times the CAP Index base. This company is located in an area with an individual CAP Index rating of 1031 for violent crime; 893 for sexual crime and 1570 for fraud. In other words, the risk of fraud is nearly 16 times higher than the UK national average.

At the other end of the scale, the headquarters of a company in the technology hardware and equipment sector scored a CAP Index of just 8, due to its low risk location with comparable scores of 16 for violent crime, 16 for sexual crime and 15 for fraud.

Assessing the greatest threat

Speaking to info4security.com about these findings, Douglas Greenwell - sales and marketing director of G4S Security Services (UK) - said: "These findings highlight some of the risks companies should consider when selecting where to locate their corporate headquarters. Given the current threat of terrorism, it's particularly relevant that three quarters of UK corporate headquarters are situated in areas with a higher than average risk profile. The CRIMECAST® system can play an important part in helping companies assess where the greatest threat to their business is likely to come from and to then devise appropriate measures to mitigate the risk."

Jon Groussman, president and COO of CAP Index, commented: "This is the first time we’ve used the CRIMECAST® system to analyse the risk profile of FTSE 350 company headquarters. Our analysis takes into account a wide range of crime and social statistics to produce a map of the postcodes with the highest risk profile. This type of crime forecasting is popular with many FORTUNE 500 companies in the US, and we are now seeing more interest from UK corporates."

Regionally, Leeds/Bradford and Birmingham had the most companies with high CAP Index scores followed by Glasgow, with companies located in Somerset, Buckinghamshire and Wiltshire faring best in terms of their low risk profiles.

For more information on the CRIMECAST® system visit www.capindex.com

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