10 Ways to Protect Your Commercial Premises from Intruders

Having peace of mind that your business premises is secure is a high priority for business owners. A break in could not only be incredibly distressing for your employees, but could also threaten the continuity of your business.  

Taking proactive steps to deter intruders and keep your assets and employees safe is a great way to feel more confident about the security of your commercial property. Even if you’ve never been broken into before, taking these steps could potentially reduce your insurance premiums alongside providing your team with peace of mind that your business is protected. 

1. Secure Your Perimeter 

The initial step when implementing security measures for a property should be to assess the surrounding areas and their risks. It is worth asking yourself these questions: 

• Is my premises accessible to the public?  
• Does the location of my premises increase the chances of unlawful entry? 
• Do the surrounding grounds of my property offer intruders places to hide? 
• Do the surrounding areas of my property have sufficient lighting? 

By assessing the areas surrounding your business premises, you can make it harder for intruders or trespassers to access your property by installing motion sensor lighting, clearing any areas which could act as hiding places, and installing security gates with commercial access control systems. 

2. Monitor Your Access Points 

Keeping the access points of your property secure is one of the best ways to prevent a break in. Visible evidence of security systems such as door entry systems and intruder alarms can be enough to deter an intruder, and provides you with peace of mind that in the event of a break-in, the alarm could alert passers-by or the police.  

3. Keep Doors and Windows Closed 

Although this tip seems obvious, it is surprising how many commercial properties our team of engineers have attended to fit alarms that have experienced a break in due to lack of due diligence. Especially in summer, keeping windows and doors open is a common practice, and if these access points are left unattended, they could invite an opportunistic trespasser. 

4. Establish Security Procedures 

As mentioned above, having a security procedure in place that your team can help implement provides them with peace of mind that everyone is doing their bit to keep themselves and your business secure. Reminding your team what to do if they see unauthorised personnel, or how to react if an intruder alarm is triggered provides accountability and shows your employees that you are taking their safety seriously. 

This could be especially relevant for members of staff who work at night or tend to work later than their colleagues and may feel more vulnerable. 

5. Lighting 

Motion sensor lights are a great way to deter intruders who use the darkness of night to conceal themselves and break into your premises. Alongside eliminating any potential hiding places outside your property, installing CCTV cameras or commercial intruder alarms at access points that include motion detection lights is a great way to show criminals that their presence has been noticed. 

 6. Consider a Monitored Security System 

Installing intruder alarms at your business premises is a good way to get peace of mind that your property is protected, however relying on the reactivity of passers-by or neighbours to report a triggered alarm to the police leaves a lot to chance. 

By choosing monitored alarm systems, you can rest assured that if an alarm is triggered, the keyholder can be alerted through an app on their smartphone which illustrates where the incident took place on your property. You can also set up your monitored alarm to contact the police, increasing the likelihood that the intruder will be caught. 

7. Secure Valuable Assets 

If your businesses premises is home to valuables such as art or jewellery, high-end electrical equipment, or highly sensitive documents, it is worth putting extra measures in place to prevent a break-in. 

Whether you choose to remove valuables from your premises overnight or install internal commercial access control systems as a secondary security measure, this extra layer of security will provide you with peace of mind that your valuable assets are protected. 

8. Review Your Out-of-Hours Security Procedures 

It is most likely that is your business premises were to be targeted by an intruder, it would be at night when the building is empty. Putting ‘closing down’ procedures in place for the last people who leave the premises at night can help to provide peace of mind that your premises is secure when it is empty at night. Setting alarms, ensuring doors are locked and secure, and hiding any valuables out of sight are a good starting point. 

9. Stay Vigilant 

Throughout the year, the level of risk for your business premises changes. It is important to regularly review your security measures to ensure that you are doing everything you can to protect your property 24/7 and reduce the likelihood of a break-in. 

10. Choose a Reliable Security System Installer 

Your security systems including commercial intruder alarms and commercial access control systems should be serviced annually by a professional to ensure that they are working properly. By choosing a reliable security company such as BDi Advance to install and maintain your CCTV, intruder alarm and door access control systems, you can be confident of a service that suits your needs and budget. 

Using the above tips, you should be able to review the security of your business premises and take action to protect any weaknesses in your security strategy, keeping your employees and business assets safe. 

BDi Advance provides advice and security systems to businesses across Cambridgeshire and East Anglia, with local engineers based in Huntingdon. To arrange a free site survey or to get a quote, complete our contact form today.