law enforcement
NBCS takes the next step to success after being awarded government funding
The National Business Crime Solution (NBCS), a not for profit initiative that enables the sharing of data between law enforcement agencies and the business community in order to reduce crime, is embarking on the next stage of its development after securing significant government funding. The award of a six-figure sum is in recognition of NBCS’s success in supporting the police in the fight against persistent and often travelling offenders and will enable it to become self-sustaining, make new appointments, and implement a comprehensive marketing and awareness campaign, including a new independent corporate identity.
By providing a central repository where business crime data is submitted, shared and analysed, NBCS is able to gather the necessary intelligence to more effectively detect, prevent and respond to crime. The money awarded to it is part of the Police Transformation Fund, a Home Office programme that marks a real opportunity for police leaders and police and crime commissioners to respond to the changing nature of crime.
This is a significant development in the evolution of NBCS. Founded by Jason Trigg – the former owner of Cardinal Security – over the last three years the NBCS has grown its membership by 213 per cent to nearly 50 organisations, and acts as a valuable link between separate police services in the UK and its members by connecting crimes that would have traditionally been viewed as independent. Shared information is particularly valuable when looking at offences involving mobile teams of criminals who are known to have very specific targets and travel extensively across the UK to commit offences. Prior to the NBCS collating these crimes these offences would have gone unnoticed and unpunished.
NBCS also works closely with a number of police departments including the National Police Chief’s Council lead for Business Crime and the National Business Crime Centre. Their operational lead, DCI Georgie Barnard, commented, ‘This is a unique service from a trusted partner that truly offers the way forward for the industry and police to work together to achieve a common goal. NBCS offers timely information on crime trends to enable businesses in all market sectors to take better preventative action and enable more effective engagement with the police.’
Not only will the funding help attract new members, it will also enable NBCS’s strategic priorities, including corporate governance, data protection, sustainability and collaboration with other bodies, to be met through its new operating model. It will continue to improve the quality of information shared and circulated, protect those who face the growing risk of threats and violence, capture the criminals who pose the greatest harm both physically and online to member businesses, and deliver a fraud sharing platform that supports businesses in eradicating persistent offenders and identifying emerging threats.
NBCS’s work is supported by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and has achieved a number of notable successes. This includes the positive identification of 419 suspects and the successful arrest of 309 offenders over the last three years, as well as help in securing sentences of over 200 years for those having the most harm and impact on members. The NBCS was also named Retail Fraud Award Winner 2014 and in 2016 received the Best Collaborative Solution and Best Crime Partnership accolade.
Catherine Bowen, policy and stakeholder director at NBCS, concluded, ‘We have proven that by working in collaboration we can build a national profile of business crime and actively support the police service by building watertight cases that result in real action. The partnership between NBCS and the police service has gone from strength to strength and the money we have received from the Police Transformation Fund rubber stamps our credentials and can be seen as an endorsement of the work we do in better protecting businesses. I’m looking forward to providing an even better level of service to our existing members and welcoming new companies on board.’
