New Board Members For East Midlands Business Crime Forum

The East Midlands Business Crime Forum (EMBCF) has strengthened its efforts in the fight against theft and vandalism at businesses across Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire by appointing three new board members. 

They are Sgt Richard Stones, Business Crime Manager for Nottinghamshire Police; John Hardwick, Chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses' East Midlands policy unit and David Rollo, of Nottingham printers Total Print Solutions.

The new board members will be tasked with driving the forum's strategy to help reduce business crime in the region by engaging with businesses to identify cost effective crime prevention solutions and provide guidance and practical support on how to make business premises more secure.

From sophisticated computer-based frauds to burglary and vandalism, it has been estimated that crime costs British commerce a staggering £19bn-a-year, equating to £262m in Derbyshire/£296.4m in Nottinghamshire.

EMBCF Chair Jean Mountain said: "I'm delighted to welcome Richard, John and David to the forum's board. Their skills, experience and knowledge will prove invaluable as we continue to lead the fight against business crime across the region.

"Crime against business is a crime against the community, striking at its jobs, prosperity and general wellbeing. As a society, we do not tolerate antisocial behaviour where we live, and nor should we tolerate it where we work."

The forum has adopted Notts Police's model of business crime reduction as its regional exemplar and Sgt Stones is set to meet with the United Nations in Lisbon as part of the UN's working party on Business Risk and Resilience. As a result, parts of the model could be replicated in places as far afield as Johannesburg, Lisbon, Mexico and Milan.

Sgt Stones said: "Business crime is a global issue, with businesses around the world experiencing similar issues to the ones faced by firms here in the East Midlands.

"The principles of our model are easily transferable and we are looking forward to being able to share our experiences with other cities around the world and helping them in the fight against business crime."   

EMBCF is facilitated by the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber on behalf of a host of representatives from the business sector, with the support of the Government Office for the East Midlands and regional police forces.

 For more information regarding The East Midlands Business Crime Forum please click here