At Christmas, retail spending across the UK is forecast to reach £85bn in 2023. It is suggested that retailers alone are losing £3.5m per day in stolen goods, costing retailers around £1.3bn in 2023.

We are focused on delivering additional resources on street for the businesses we represent in our town centre and their staff. As a result, we have agreed a match-funding partnership with Croydon MPS which will see an increase in officer numbers on our high street.

The new team of 9 officers including one sergeant and eight police constables will offer 576 hours of additional patrolling in the lead up to and across the festive season, across an eight-week period, as we focus on providing the much-needed support for all those that use our town centre.

Engagement is a vital component in the collective approach between Croydon MPS, Croydon BID, partners including Croydon Council, and the business community. To compliment the match-funding agreement, Croydon BID is doubling its investment into engagement activities between the police and its business members.

It is hoped that in doing so, we will enhance a collective need to share intelligence, offer reassurance, understand current concerns, and issues with a view to pro-actively creative solutions to meet the needs of our business community. Working with the Croydon BID Street Rangers, the increased investment will be in place until March 2024, offering an additional 16 hours of engagement activity.

Croydon BID is committed to working with its partners to reduce the impact of business crime across our town centre. We deliver several safety services and initiatives including: the Croydon BID Street Rangers team which offers almost 8,000 additional hours per year of improved visibility, engagement and support, and our Croydon BID Radio Link which offers an improved intelligence network.

For full details of how Croydon BID works to reduce the impact of business crime within Croydon town centre, please visit: croydonbid.com/business/resolve