Businesses back police protection

NEARLY half of British businesses are ready to fund a specialist police squad to protect them from terrorists, animal rights extremists and computer hackers.

The Confederation of British Industry is backing the demand with the launch of a campaign to lobby the Government.

It follows a CBI survey, published today, that found nearly half the firms questioned would be prepared to pay some or all of the costs of an 'increased, dedicated police resource' working solely to protect business.

'The cost of doing nothing is very high,' said CBI director-general Digby Jones.

Conducted jointly with security technology firm QinetiQ, the survey found that 97% of businesses rated security issues a matter of great or some concern, with terrorism, computer hacking and animal rights extremism being seen as the major threats.

Jones admitted that a privatised police unit would be a radical departure from normal practice. But he added: 'Football clubs pay for the police on duty at matches.'

And QinetiQ chairwoman and former Foreign Office official Dame Pauline Neville-Jones said: 'It is the way of the future.'

The survey, of 100 CBI member firms of all sizes, found average spending on insurance of premisesand computer systems had soared from £300,000 per business in 2000 to £346,000 this year. Spending on security rose from £961,000 in 2000 to £1.02 million this year.

'It is an expense that business should happily bear,' said Jones. 'If it saves a life one day, it is money well spent.'

With two out of three companies now employing a chief security officer, Neville-Jones said it was time to establish a reliable accreditation system to ensure that cowboy operators did not set themselves up in business as security consultants.

The survey is published on the eve of the CBI annual conference in Birmingham. A session on business security tomorrow afternoon will be addressed by MI5 directorgeneral Eliza Manningham-Buller.