Watching the wheels

Motor dealerships are prime targets for criminal attack, given their high value stock and easily accessible locations. Dealers also face the reality of a tougher, risk-shy, commercial insurance market that has resulted in soaring premiums and difficulties in obtaining adequate cover.

Given this background, it is not surprising that motor dealerships are a ready customer for the CCTV installer. They have become one of the business sectors at the forefront when it comes to embracing the very latest in security technology.

Many have learnt from bitter experience of the disruption to business which can result when effective measures are not in place. Typical incidents can range from petty vandalism, with showroom windows smashed or damage to vehicle body work, to professional criminal gangs, who steal to order, and may take wheels off cars, or even the cars themselves.

This appreciation of the need to manage risk to keep one step ahead of the criminals – taking control of incidents when they happen at the earliest possible stage and hopefully holding premiums to a manageable level – bodes well for CCTV installers.

Now, more than ever, they are in a strong position to put forward a convincing business case for an upgrade to solutions such as remotely monitored CCTV, in preference to more traditional options – continually recorded CCTV, or even manned guarding.

As set-up costs have fallen with the introduction of measures including free-for-use transmission equipment, alongside the potential to use existing infrastructure – a case in point being broadband connection – so the scope for installers to promote this type of event-driven solution has grown dramatically.

The largest group of dealerships where there is room for expansion is undoubtedly the independents. To put this in perspective, the Retail Motor Industry Federation (RMI) has 4,000 of these as members, and there are probably around 8,500 of a reasonable size across the UK.

Up to now, because of cost concerns, many may not have felt they were in a position to implement the sort of measures which are now commonplace amongst their franchised colleagues, but this is definitely no longer the case.

An eye on the Quarry

Quarry Garage, based in Huddersfield, is one dealership that is very much at the forefront of moves to minimise the risk of damage to property and vehicle theft, by implementing effective security measures such as the very latest remotely monitored CCTV solution from RemGuard Visual Management.

The driving force behind Quarry Garage’s proactive approach to risk management and security is proprietor John Denton, who recognises the pressing requirement to keep his all-important insurance premiums under control.

John is a well known figure in the motor trade. He is heavily involved in the Retail Motor Industry Federation (RMI) as a Vice President, and is also Chairman of the Independent Garage Dealership section and of the North Eastern region.

John started the family business on the current site nearly 30 years ago. Under his guidance Quarry Garage has been transformed from humble beginnings in an old quarry stable, to a modern business which sells more than 2000 cars a year, all backed up by state-of-the-art service and repair facilities for Quarry’s customers.

Addressing the threat

Paralleling the independent dealership’s growth has been the changing nature of the security threat.

“Even up to 12 years ago we would keep the site open at night so people could simply wander about and look at our vehicles – this is something we simply couldn’t contemplate now without suffering from the attentions of an ever more opportunistic criminal element, who will seek out gaps in security,” John says.

John is enthusiastic about the benefits of the RemGuard service. “I see the event-driven solution as a crucially important part of our proactive risk management. Where the service really stands out is in its ability to qualify what is going on, take action and eliminate problematic false alarms.

“I know that I can sleep a lot better at night with it fitted. At the end of the day it’s all about peace of mind and having someone watching over the business when I’m not around.

“There is nothing worse than coming into work and finding damage somewhere. Being so intimately involved in the business means that I take it very personally when something happens – in many ways it feels like my own house has been broken into.”

There were two incidents in particular which helped to confirm in John’s mind the need for remotely monitored CCTV.

The first involved a female customer who, when accidentally locked in, scaled the perimeter fence and jumped down the other side. Unfortunately there is a considerable drop, and the end result was a broken leg for the customer and four and a half years of litigation.

The other incident concerned the theft of the wheels and radios from four vehicles parked-up in the dealership.

Motor dealerships are at the forefront when it comes to embracing the very latest in security technology to protect their business

With six-foot fences, barbed wire and large metal reinforced gate, car immobilisers, and keys securely locked away, the opportunities to actually take vehicles from the Quarry site had been minimised.

As a result, when a criminal gang broke in, they turned their attention to items which could be carried away. The gang were on site from 11.20pm to 3.25 am in the morning without being detected, taking 16 wheels over a fence across a field to a waiting car before making their getaway.

With the conventional, continuously recorded CCTV that Quarry had at the time of both incidents, the images gathered were only available for later review, offering no prospect of intervention to let the customer off the site or stop the thieves spending more than four hours at the garage unchallenged.

Verbal warnings to intruders

Keybury Security Systems installed the RemGuard service at Quarry, which includes the latest RemVu Aquila transmission equipment linked to CCTV cameras and detectors on-site.

If an alarm/detector is triggered, images can be transmitted to a dedicated Remote Video Response Centre (RVRC).

Here, operators can manage the incident by accessing Quarry Garage’s site plan, issue verbal warnings (via on-site speakers) to an intruder to stop damaging attacks in their tracks – a sufficient deterrent in over 90 per cent of incidents – and if necessary, rapidly alert police and keyholders. Images of offenders can even be stored for evidential purposes.

It was not long before the event-driven CCTV solution justified the initial investment.

“It was only about a month after it was up and running that we had a repeat of the customer lock-in,” John says.

“This time it was a father and his young son. Fortunately, in this case operators at the RVRC were able to see what was going on and contact a keyholder who came out in a matter of minutes to let them out.

“By addressing the incident as it happened, remedial action could be taken and, crucially, we did not have a repeat of a customer injuring themselves and the legal ramifications which that might have brought.

“We also know that in future, if anyone does break in to the site to steal radios, wheels or other parts, they will be detected immediately and appropriate action taken. They will not be able to wander around unhindered for four hours!”

There are other bottom line benefits for Quarry. Instead of having to keep the dealership lit up continuously at night, which can be prohibitively expensive, floodlights are now detector driven, so they only come on in an area where an incident is actually occurring, resulting in considerable long term savings.

Ultimately, John is a strong believer in working with insurers.

“Insurance is the lifeblood of any business – you can’t trade without it.

“By implementing good housekeeping measures to reduce risk and shouldering the responsibility, it is possible to keep premiums under control.

“In our own experience we have only seen our premiums rise by 10% over the past 10-15 years.

I doubt if many other dealerships could claim that.

“It’s all about assuming the worst and taking action after adverse experiences. The move to an intelligent CCTV solution is a good example of this willingness to make security a high priority, and not to leave to one side amongst all the other pressures that come with running a motor dealership.”

As pressure on dealerships to secure their premises increases, driven by heightened insurance premiums and the need to maintain police cover, there is little doubt that more and more will be turning to the latest remote monitoring technology, and security installers across the UK should be well placed to take advantage of this opportunity.