Police seemingly powerless to combat epidemic levels of theft from commercial vehicles.

Life is tough for companies trying to make an honest living in the UK today. Working to complete hard won contracts far from home and office is challenging enough, but after your staff have been booked into a conveniently located motel, all plans for an early start might just disappear – along with your equipment.

Being faced with damaged vans and loss of valuable tools and equipment can be devastating or even terminal for a company.

The morning the pictures below were taken, the hotel Night Desk Manager had witnessed thieves breaking into FOUR vehicles in total. They followed procedure and called the police who simply gave them a crime number. No wonder fleet insurance is sky high!

The total cost to companies in lost working hours, administration, vehicle repairs, replacement of equipment and higher insurances must be astronomical, and yet the police seem powerless to do anything.

The thieves are so confident in not getting caught that in this instance they brazenly used heavy equipment, first to break through the car park security fencing and then proceeded to smash and cut their way into multiple vehicles, emptying them of their contents, all under the eyes of a hotel staff member and CCTV cameras. The police response to simply issue crime number and leave it to the victims and insurance companies to sort out is madness…

We need your help

There is currently an online petition which has our full backing at https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/231177 calling on the Government to consider what more can be done to tackle this problem, whether it be introducing new legislation, additional sentencing guidelines or regulations on the reselling of tools, but something needs to be done. Please sign and show your support!

Two new companies are exhibiting at the London Fabric Show in March this year.

The UK’s Bill Beaumont Textiles and Ragolle N.V from Belgium are both renowned fabric producers with long histories and extensive collections of upholstery and soft furnishing fabrics.

Bill Beaumont Textiles is based in Lancashire and as well as supplying upholstery fabrics they are a leading brand in the supply of curtain fabrics, made to measure soft furnishings and wall-coverings. The company is currently run by the sixth generation of the Beaumont family to take the reigns. Daniel Beaumont is the eldest son of ex England Rugby star Bill Beaumont.

Ragolle N.V is one of Belgium’s leading manufacturers of jacquard woven rugs and upholstery fabrics. They also produce broadloom carpets and fabrics for cushions and curtains. Their in-house design department continually updated their designs and colours and they use a combination of computerised techniques and traditional methods to produce their fabrics.

The London Fabric Show features over 35 high-end fabric producers from the UK and Europe and is organised by the BFM (British Furniture Manufacturers Association). The 2019 event takes place on Monday 4th and Tuesday 5th March at Chelsea F.C. in Fulham. For more information and to register go to www.londonfabricshow.uk

According to the Annual Fraud Indicator published by the UK Fraud Costs Measurement Committee, the UK economy lost an astonishing estimated £190 billion to fraud and cyber crime in 2017.

This shocking figure can be broken down into the following:

• Private sector fraud losses: £140 billion
• Public sector fraud losses: £40.4 billion
• Charities and charitable trust losses: £2.3 billion
• Frauds directly against individuals: £6.8 billion

This represents more than the UK Government spends on health and defence combined and equates to around £10,000 per family in the UK.

Even more worrying is that these estimates may be conservative given that many organisations and individuals prefer not to report their losses to fraud for personal or commercially sensitive reasons. People can feel embarrassed and ashamed about being defrauded, companies may decide to write off the loss to avoid any reputational damage if the fraud went public.

Protect yourself

Online fraud is now the most common crime in the UK. Due to the scale of fraud, current Government resources to tackle cyber crime are thinly spread so it is up to businesses and individuals to protect themselves in the first instance.

In most cases, this can be done by following simple guidelines such as:

• Always ensure the latest software and app updates are installed on your devices. Updates contain vital security fixes which will help keep your devices secure.
• Use a strong, separate password for each email account. Never repeat a password. Hackers rely on people being lazy, gaining access to personal or business accounts with the same password.
• Never share pin numbers or passwords and never provide them in response to a phone call or email. Genuine organisations will never ask you for these remotely.
• Never open attachments to emails that you are unsure of. Avoid opening marketing emails unless you have signed up to receive them.
• Always use a firewall when connected to the internet.
• Always have up to date antivirus/anti-malware installed.
• Secure your devices with passwords, this is especially important for portable devices such as smart phones, laptops and tablets.
• Back up your important data to the cloud or onto encrypted drives. If you fall victim to a ransomware attack, you will be able to restore your files without being blackmailed into paying to regain access to your device.

Whether business or personal, the fraudsters and cyber criminals are actively seeking to separate you from your hard earned money. It’s an arms race between those trying to protect our systems and those trying to breach them and we are only as strong as our weakest link, so be vigilant, be sensible and be careful.

For further information and advice go to https://www.cyberaware.gov.uk/

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Two new companies are exhibiting at the London Fabric Show in March 2019.

The UK’s Bill Beaumont Textiles and Ragolle N.V from Belgium are both renowned fabric producers with long histories and extensive collections of upholstery and soft furnishing fabrics.

Bill Beaumont Textiles is based in Lancashire and as well as supplying upholstery fabrics they are a leading brand in the supply of curtain fabrics, made to measure soft furnishings and wall-coverings. The company is currently run by the sixth generation of the Beaumont family to take the reigns. Daniel Beaumont is the eldest son of ex England Rugby star Bill Beaumont.

Ragolle N.V is one of Belgium’s leading manufacturers of jacquard woven rugs and upholstery fabrics. They also produce broadloom carpets and fabrics for cushions and curtains. Their in-house design department continually updated their designs and colours and they use a combination of computerised techniques and traditional methods to produce their fabrics.

The London Fabric Show features over 35 high-end fabric producers from the UK and Europe and is organised by the BFM (British Furniture Manufacturers Association). The 2019 event takes place on Monday 4th and Tuesday 5th March at Chelsea F.C. in Fulham. For more information and to register go to www.londonfabricshow.uk