The UK’s first hospitality forum against fraud and theft has been launched, with Gondola Holdings, Starbucks and Compass Group amongst the first members to sign up.
The Café, Dining and Hospitality Loss Prevention Forum aims to tackle crime and subsequent losses felt by both independent and large operators across the industry.
Modelled upon the Retail Loss Prevention Forum, the group will examine issues such as shrink reduction, health and safety for employees, and opportunist stealing.
Sally Kee, vice chair of the Forum, said: “Regrettably many opportunities still exist in our industry for thieves specifically seeking electronic devices. All too often customers leave their table, with their laptop or phone on display, and return momentarily to find that their personal belongings have been subjected to theft.”
2012 London Olympics
One of the first initiatives for the Forum will be to highlight the risks and opportunities the London 2012 Olympic Games present for businesses in the capital and around the UK.
Anne Frost, director of consulting at the ORIS Group, which helped with the Forum’s conception, said: “We know the formula will also work in the dynamic and transient world of cafés and hospitality in that it will allow proactive heads of loss prevention and risk to mobilise and discuss and act upon specific issues.
“It will be a meeting of minds and best practice that, when more established, can be shared with the broader loss prevention community.”