Renowned retail crime and fraud expert Professor Joshua Bamfield is working in partnership with Nottingham-based retail security company Octavian, applying his extensive and expert knowledge of criminal behaviour in the retail field to Octavian’s client security proposals.
The move will not only see the Professor helping to devise consistent in-store retail security programmes for Octavian’s customer base – which includes Boots and Sainsbury’s. He’s also assisting Octavian in introducing an even higher level of strategy to its programmes that will prevent shrinkage and improve the shopping experience.
“We are now working with some of the big High Street names and, as was the case with IKEA’s Gurkhas, we want to use innovatory techniques to help retailers prevent crime in their stores,” commented Pippa Muckley, the contractor’s special projects manager. “We already have officers that are trained to improve customer service, and with the help of Professor Bamfield we can look at closer client relationships using tools such as Focus Groups and Workshops involving retail teams.”
Professor Bamfield’s own organisation, the Centre for Retail Research, offers organisations authoritative research and consultancy on retail issues and, of course, authors The Global Retail Theft Barometer. Speaking of the relationship with Octavian, Bamfield told SMT: “It could be argued that the majority of security companies are rolling out the same answers to the criminal fraternity’s ever-evolving repertoire of tricks which are used daily against the UK’s retail base. It’s refreshing to work with an organisation that accepts ‘different’ as being the norm. I think that, in partnership, we can make some real waves in the retail security sector.”
