Fewer police resources and more crime is what the future holds according to the man in charge of security for a leading company.

Phillip Hagon, head of corporate security for Sainsbury’s, was speaking at an Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) regional engagement seminar on business crime at the Hilton Hotel, Whitley.

He told the gathering of businessmen and women, police and Home Office officials, he looked ahead to a 20 per cent reduction in police resources and an increase in the volume of crime including anti-social behaviour and the growth of organised crime.

He argued that to protect businesses, the status quo was unlikely to continue and suggested it would be necessary in future to “engage the security industry in a more intelligent way”.

Lee Kettlewell, of the Home Office crime strategy unit, outlined a number of initiatives introduced by the Government to tackle crime, pointing out although it had gone down by 36 per cent in the last 12 years “if you tell that to members of the public, they don’t believe it”.

He said it was clear the next few years could see significant public spending cuts. He added: “We are in a very difficult economic situation.

“We could see an increase in crime, certainly for some businesses who don’t want to be saddled with the burden of crime and anti-social behaviour and subsequent costs.”

He said key future targets for the Government were anti-social behaviour, which continued to be a priority, serious acquisitive crime and serious organised crime.

Chief Superintendent John Liversedge from Thames Valley Police urged all the businesspeople in the room to get involved with their neighbourhood action groups and crime and disorder reduction partnerships.

He said Thames Valley Police has a business crime reduction advisor – Nick Gilbert – and experts who could give free advice on:

- Counter-terrorist and security
- Crime prevention design for businesses planning new buildings 
- Crime prevention and reduction for existing premises.

He said the force also had a business crime reduction partnership which he urged local businesses to get in touch with.

Among other speakers at the seminar on Friday were Khan Juna from the Thames Valley Police Authority, Bill Oddy from the West Oxfordshire crime and disorder reduction partnership, Andrew Barter of the Federation of Small Businesses and Jenny Brown of the Association of Convenience Stores.

The seminar, rolled out across the UK, was organised by ACPO.

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