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BETTER BUSINESS

left unattended, it’s a perfect window realise or are willing to admit.
for thieves – or even employees – to As he comments: “Unlike high-
siphon fuel; this can be especially value items that require tracking,
hard to keep track of if it’s done in small consumables – such as stock-
small amounts”. in-trade materials, office supplies, or
But as Kearns well knows, every- raw goods – can disappear unnoticed
thing has a value, whether it is in a over time.”
raw or finished state – “there is a But why don’t directors see theft as
marketplace and outlet for the sale of a risk to their business? It’s very odd
all stolen goods in one format or for as Kearns says, “there are simple,
another”. cost effective measures they can
And he’s seen some big numbers at introduce to prevent, disrupt or
clients – the theft of £125,000 of
vehicle parts in completed state. In detect such crimes”.
this instance, an employee came on The problem is likely the feeling of
site, loaded a vehicle, used a forklift invulnerability, until it’s too late;
and drove the goods away. Another often a business will not know there
case saw high-value flooring worth has been a theft or fraud until some-
£90,000 loaded by employees into thing happens to highlight it. Take
their vehicles and sold on eBay. And fraud.
in a third, there was the theft of scrap
metal by three Saturday workers Kearns says that the figures from
when there were no supervisors the Association of Certified Fraud
around; they loaded their vehicles Examiners Report to the Nations
and went to a scrapyard each 2024 shows that (internationally)
Saturday afternoon. The possible loss 19% of fraud was found by accident
over many years was estimated to be and in 32% of cases, the internal con-
around £100,000. trols had been overridden .
Equally, Kearns reckons that not
all cases have to be high value: “An Fundamentally, he believes “there
employee who can steal £100 per is the opportunity for dishonesty in
week in some format or another will every type of commercial or indus-
be happy with their gain and draw no trial business irrespective of its geo-
attention to themselves.” graphical location, turnover, number
board members are involved, statistics show it takes longer to identify the Similarly, Islam thinks low-value of employees or industry sector”.
items are at high risk of loss and are
theft or fraud, and the median losses are higher than an individual working
surprisingly common targets. And Advice going forward
alone.”
this is because “low-value items often So, in trying to lock the door before
go unnoticed when missing, which
Losing items the horse contemplates bolting, both
makes them an easy target. But
Theft goes beyond the obvious ‘removal’ of the physical as employees can repeated theft of low-value items can Islam and Kearns recommend a
also ‘lose’ items such as phones or laptops. add up to a significant sum over number of steps.
As Kearns outlines, “it is simple for an employee to ‘lose’ something... time.” For Islam, it’s important that firms
steal it and report it as a loss and sell it – especially as there are many routes Inventory loss take a proactive approach to identify-
for sale for stolen products”. And where an employee makes the decision to ing risks and implementing strong
And what about losses of inventory
steal or commit fraud then the costs can be significant, and more impor- in general? In relation to this Kearns security measures. The key is to
tantly, it may go unnoticed. Islam thinks the same. is bothered that so few businesses put gather information, analyse patterns,
He too says it is surprisingly easy for employees to ‘lose’ company prop- internal theft and fraud on the and establish clear controls to pre-
erty, and it may not always be accidental: “In workplaces with weaker secu- board’s agenda. As he says: “It’s only vent future losses.
rity measures, items like laptops, phones, tools, or even sensitive after a theft or fraud that they are
documents, are at risk of disappearing without a trace.” willing to accept the risk as real and Summary
However, they’re certainly not the only thing that will get stolen. put measures in place to prevent it Crime happens – it’s regrettable,
He points here to personal protective equipment (PPE) as “another happening again – but this too late… but that’s life. This means that every
potential target that non-retail commercial environments should be wary a typical case of ‘closing the stable firm needs to consider itself under
door after the horse has bolted’.”
of; it’s not uncommon for workers or thieves to take them for their own per- Indeed, Islam sees losses of inven- potential attack and so must take pro-
sonal use, or for resale purposes.” tory, particularly consumables that active steps to protect its position. To
Then there’s fuel which he considers probably one of the larger ‘non-con- are easy to resell, as being more wide- assume that ‘it’ll not happen to us’ is
ventional’ targets of theft though. As he outlines, “if company vehicles are spread than many business owners to be both naïve and negligent.

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