Safe as public houses

Graham Ridout examines a variety of systems to help protect your staff and customers - along with takings

For many licensees it is hard enough to make a living, so it's no joke when premises are damaged, employees raid the till, or someone walks out without settling their tab. That's why security equipment has seen such a boom in recent times.

Leading the way have been CCTV systems, many of which were installed to meet Licensing Act requirements and, latterly, to monitor outside areas following the introduction of the smoking ban.

Camera Tech Solutions sales executive

Rhodri Griffiths says: "In terms of the smoking ban, we've had quite a good response. And although people are respecting the ban,

licensees are installing cameras to monitor what is happening in the outside area."

Cricklewood Electronics managing director Chris Grocott agrees: "Many people have put up cameras in the smoking areas."

Grocott has also noticed an increasing trend for installing a camera to cover the till. He says the camera helps avoid mistakes such as a customer handing over a £20 note and only receiving change for £10. It also deters staff from dipping into the cash register.

He says: "Licensees are employing new people all the time and sometimes they don't know if a person is completely trustworthy."

Price of equipment is tumbling

Grocott and Griffiths are also in complete agreement that the price of surveillance equipment is tumbling while the quality and reliability of products are improving. Most equipment they sell relates to digital recording systems, which are far superior and more practical than the old analogue systems that relied on daily tape replacement.

Digital video recorder (DVR) systems don't require tapes, as the images are stored on the computer's hard disk. The capacity of the hard disk can be specified at anything from 160GB up to about 1,000GB - the latter is capable of storing up to two months' recordings, depending on the number of cameras and the quality of picture resolution required.

Grocott says: "Very, very rarely do we sell an analogue system these days. With digital, the picture quality is so much better and the new cameras now available give much higher picture resolution - the same standard as 550-line television screens."

Griffiths adds: "We've been installing DVRs for about three years without any problems."

Camera Tech Solutions offers a supply-and-fix service and leases start from about £7 per week. Griffiths notes: "Most people go for a lease arrangement because of the tax benefits." Cricklewood, however, trades on a supply-only basis, and Grocott says: "The equipment is easy to install; people can either do it themselves or hire a local electrician."

Running up a tab securely

The credit-card boom, combined with a rise in fraud, prompted business partners Trond Rornes and Chris Holloway to invent CardsSafe - a small safe where licensees can store credit cards securely while customers run up a tab. Each mini-safe has 10 drawers, each with a unique key.

Since launching the product four years ago, CardsSafe now has more than 1,000 customers including many of the larger managed-house pubcos. Like all good inventions, not only is it a simple idea, but also one that has a number of advantages. Rornes explains: "More places are now asking customers to hand over their credit cards as security. On average, pubs loose £50 per week on walk-outs and the money lost is usually taken out of the staff tips. Also, customers have peace of mind when their card is out of their possession because they have their own key."

The system also has another major selling point - customers spend more. Rornes adds: "We conducted a 27-week study in 10 Spirit pubs, which showed an average of a 38%

increase in credit-card spending. One of our first customers reported that her pub was used every Friday by a City firm for a management meeting when it would ask for £250 to be put on the tab - now, it regularly spends £750. And before he installed CardsSafe, one guy in Merseyside said he had made himself unpopular with customers by standing at the door to make sure they paid before leaving."

Rornes says even police forces seem keen on the idea. "We've had half a dozen say that they have noticed establishments using CardsSafe cause less problems at the end of the trading session."

Each 10-card safe costs £9.95 per month to rent, and if just one walk-out is prevented Rornes says that this is equivalent to five months' free use.