The British Retail Consortium has announced that its 2005 Retail Crime and Security Conference will be held on the 19 October at the Victoria Park Plaza in London . The BRC’s Retail Crime Survey, the most authoritative survey on business crime in the UK , will be launched at the conference.

The theme for this year’s conference, is “Where next for retail crime?” with a strong emphasis on how technology can be integrated into retailers crime reduction strategies. The conference is a real opportunity for retailers, security experts, human resources and loss prevention professionals to join together and explore new ways of combating the serious problem of retail crime. There will be presentations from a Government minister and industry specialists as well practical examples of how others are attempting to reduce retail crime.

The 12th BRC Retail Crime Survey, covering 2004/05, will set out the costs of crime and crime prevention, losses from staff and customer theft, robberies and criminal damage and the volume of incidents such as violence against staff and till snatches. Last year’s survey showed crime cost the industry £1.96 billion in 2003 and levels of violence against staff soared. BRC Director General, Kevin Hawkins, said: “The BRC crime conference is a line.”