New security measures at Central England Co-op stores aim to keep people safe

Posted by rob smyth | Published: 27/06/2018


Central England Co-op has revealed plans for the rollout of further improvements aimed at deterring potential incidents at its Food Stores and protecting colleagues, members and customers.

The retailer already has a range of measures in place to keep people safe as well as actively promoting the fact that targeting convenience supermarkets is not ‘worth the risk’.

Now external motion detectors are being installed across dozens of sites and a centrally monitored CCTV system is also being fitted which allows colleagues to call for assistance at the touch of a button.

Marianne Nyambo, Loss Prevention Manager at Central England Co-op, said: “We are aware that incidents such as robberies and ATM thefts are frightening for store colleagues, who are our first priority.

“We are doing everything we can to prevent incidents like this from happening, but if something does happen we offer them support and counselling both from within our business and specialists. 

“We work closely with police forces across the 16 counties in which we trade in order to protect our colleagues, customers and community.

“We already have full CCTV coverage in all our stores, have increased our provision of security guards and reduced incident response times.

“We have now secured funding to put in place further measures to try and ensure that people are kept safe.

“We will be using a central monitoring system that will allow colleagues to press a button to alert a special control room who will then be able to watch what is happening on CCTV and call for immediate assistance from the emergency services if required.

“This will allow for quicker support for colleagues as incidents are escalated quicker and will also help increase colleague’s perception of safety and security, something of which has happened when the system has been installed elsewhere across our business.

“External motion detectors will also be installed outside of our Food Stores and will be activated outside of trading hours. When activated they will switch on CCTV cameras to record any out of hours activity and contact Police if needed.

“These measures, along with the ones we already have in place, will hopefully deter criminals and, most importantly, ensure our colleagues and customers feel safe.”

The new improvements are being rolled out in Food Stores across Derbyshire, Leicestershire, the West Midlands, Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire, and Yorkshire.

The monitoring will be overseen by Co-op Secure Response, part of the East of England Co-op.

Their Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC) is monitored 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, by a team of accredited security professionals. It uses state-of-the-art technology to monitor almost 7,000 CCTV cameras across the country.

Head of Co-op Secure Response Lee Hammond said: “Co-op Secure Response is all about the people, and ensuring our stores and communities remain safe places to work and live.

“We have worked hard over the past seven years to ensure that the services we offer are the very best for us and our clients’ businesses, and are looking forward to working with Central England Co-op to help protect their colleagues, customers and business.”

 

Notes to editors

 

About Central England Co-operative

 

Central England Co-operative is one of the largest independent retail co-operative societies in the UK. 

 

It is a modern, forward-looking organisation employing over 8,000 staff, with the Society’s principal areas of activity being food, funeral services, travel shops, and property investment.

 

Central England Co-operative has over 400 trading outlets across 16 counties including; West Midlands, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.  The Society has an ambitious food store development programme for 2018.

 

Central England Co-operative is proud of its reputation for ethical business practices and corporate responsibility.  It is a member of Business in the Community, the membership organisation that stands for responsible business, and has also won many business awards for excellence.  The Society supports a number of charities including Dementia UK and invests a percentage of its trading profit into local communities.

 

Becoming a member of Central England Co-operative offers a whole host of benefits ranging from collecting points every time you spend in store to earn a share of the profits, access to members activities and community initiatives including the Community Dividend Fund, which hands out grants of up to £5,000 to charities and good causes across the Society’s trading estate.

Find out how to become a Central England Co-operative member by calling 0800 0501 601, emailing members@centralengland.coop or visiting https://www.members.coop

 

For more information visit www.centralengland.coop, follow Central England Co-operative on Twitter: @mycoopfood, and on Facebook: facebook.com/centralenglandcooperative

 

Rob Smyth / Heather Clapton at Central England Co-operative on 01543 414140

 

Email –publicrelations@centralengland.coop