Cash is arguably the biggest asset UK private security has to secure.
After all, there’s £40 billion out there – double the sum of ten years ago. Maybe you work for a cash in transit (CIT) company that delivers the money; or at a shopping centre, pub or transport hub that houses some of the UK’s tens of thousands of cash machines. Either way, you can expect more of the same – the Bank of England reports the value of banknotes in circulation is rising by seven per cent a year. Mark Rowe reports from inside the Bank of England. <br><br>The adverts at the commuter train station used by Andrew Bailey that say ‘cash is dead’ do not impress him. He is the Bank of England’s chief cashier. As he says, one of the golden rules for ATM providers is: never let them run out. ATMs account for 60 per cent of the point of entry of banknotes in circulation. Hence with the rise of the cash machine has come the (quite labour-intensive) industry to service the machines. "The economist in me would say that period also coincides with the era of sustained low inflation and the cost of carrying banknotes is reduced; we are all prepared to hold somewhat larger balances of cash in our pockets, maybe." For security managers whether at train or bus stations, motorway service stations, besides obvious places for ATMs like banks, there comes risks, as Andrew Bailey agrees. He calls CIT cash across the pavement robbery ‘very concerning’ for the cash handlers and the CIT industry. While there has not been such an eight-figure robbery of a cash centre since the 2006 Tonbridge depot case, most of the roughly 1000 a year CIT robberies are on the pavement. Andrew Bailey said the bank was supportive of the Home Office initiative that brings together unions, the CIT companies, BSIA and police. "The more we can do collectively to tackle the problem the better. In the wake of the Tonbridge robbery we have had an extensive programme of work with the industry to tackle security at wholesale cash centres. You can never say that is successful, in the sense there are always criminals out there."<br><br>CIT crime is not, as Andrew Bailey continues, a particular UK issue. The Continent has serious, ‘almost paramilitary’ robberies. "So as an industry, and we see ourselves as part of that industry, we have a common interest; we have to be alert and work with the police, to tackle this type of crime. I hope that the Home Office initiative will lead to real, practical developments." The other criminal threat is from the counterfeiters, who may have more links with drug distribution. Andrew Bailey explains that the counterfeiter needs to do two things: produce the notes, and distribute them – which requires the sort of network that illegal drug dealers and distributors have. He describes counterfeiting as an ever-present threat. "When we launched the new £20 note [last year] one of the things I was very keen to say, because it has to be said, we have to be realistic about this; w are not going to issue and no central bank is going to issue a banknote that cannot be counterfeited. The reason is, we are exploiting security features we can put into banknotes to make it harder for our banknotes to be counterfeited but the same or parallel technology developments in printing and reproductive technologies are also exploitable by the criminal community; that’s a fact of life." Here he brought in John Kendall, the banknotes education manager, for the bank seeks also to make its notes easy for us all to authenticate, which if you think about it is not the same as saying we learn to spot (or feel) a fake. Even ten years ago, counterfeits were done in traditional printing shops. "That still happens, clearly, but now you have the world of desktop reproduction; and increasingly the world of digital reproduction, whether desktop or more industrial." And just as this legitimate technology is falling in price, so it becomes more available to the criminal. Hence the Bank of England’s (and other central banks’) research and development, and John Kendall and staff. You may have seen the bank’s exhibition stand at security events such as the Action Against Business Crime conference in Nottingham in March. Ask the bank for education packs and posters to train your staff in how to spot a note is authentic; or visit www.bankofengland.co.uk for free downloads. <br>
