On Sunday 29th March, heartless thieves broke into The Myton Hospices Coventry base and stole a white Ford transit van, and ransacked the premises, in the third break in in just 15 months.

Kenilworth based Sure-Track (part of Radius Telematics), recovered the stolen van on Wednesday 1st April in Coventry, and reunited it with the owners of The Myton Hospices.

In these challenging times, you can be sure of one thing…thieves will never fail to take their opportunity in times of uncertainty.

Despite a nation on lockdown, we’re still seeing high levels of theft. With construction sites closing and whole fleets grounded to a halt, don't let the fear of theft become another concern.

Did you know, a van is broken into every 23 minutes in the UK? With a huge market for second hand tools, the contents of a van can be a goldmine for thieves, which is why van security is a crucial topic to address.

The impact of van theft is massive. Many van owners suffer from a loss of work, which in turn can lead to an impact on their business reputation. This teamed with the stress of replacing stolen goods, dealing with insurance claims and rising premiums, leaves van owners and businesses in a troublesome position. Trades people are calling it an "epidemic" that is destroying their livelihoods.

The Direct Vision Standard (DVS) is a scheme which will be coming into play on the 26th October 2020 in the Greater London Area for all Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) over 12 Tonnes. The scheme was created to improve the safety of all road users, including pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.

With a £550 per day fine for non-compliance, the DVS is something that companies with HGV fleets have to take very seriously.

The UK weather forecast for the next 5 days doesn't look promising.

Storm Ciara is set to give the country a battering, with 80mph gales set to hit the South on Sunday amid five days of weather hell as fog, snow, lightning, rain and -5C chills also strike Britain. Widespread disruption to roads is expected, but what if your business relies on keeping your vehicles safe and secure on the roads?

The final countdown to Christmas has officially begun... with gifts stacked under the tree and Christmas shopping loaded in car boots, the festive period can be a prevalent time for thieves to strike.

When it comes to security, you could be forgiven for focusing solely on your home at Christmas time. But it's important not to neglect your car during the festive period. Extra vigilance is required to keep your vehicle secure at Christmas...
 

WMG is an academic department at the University of Warwick and is the leading international role model for successful collaboration between academia and the public and private sectors, driving innovation in science, technology and engineering, to develop the brightest ideas and talent that will shape our future.

UK construction sites are increasingly being targeted by thieves who recognise the financial value of plant machinery.

Smaller items of plant equipment such as mini excavators and generators are often stolen from contract sites outside of working hours or whilst being hired out. Consequently, many plant hire firms are now investing in additional security measures such as on-site cameras, perimeter fences and tracking devices to keep their vehicles safe from theft.

We are excited to announce that Radius Payment Solutions, the group behind the telematics and fuel card brands Kinesis and UK Fuels, has acquired Sure-Track. 

We received a call early in the morning about the theft of an Ifor Williams trailer from a Manchester based construction firm.

We remotely traced the trailer to the Port of Liverpool. It's location meant we had to act fast so our recovery team headed straight to the scene. Using RF scanning equipment to pick up a signal, they began a thorough investigation of the area.

The theft of high value machinery can be seriously damaging for small forestry companies. These types of crimes often involve significant damage to the property where the machine is stored, as well as additional losses such as chainsaws, climbing kits and other vital equipment. To compound this issue, the remote rural locations where forestry equipment is stored, results in elongated police response times.

With the demand for construction equipment on the rise, crime levels are increasing also. Building and construction sites are perfect targets for thieves, with expensive tools and machinery left lying around after work hours, it's an open invitation for would-be thieves. 

The impact of theft on construction and plant hire firms can be catastrophic. Not only is there a high cost in terms of both time and money spent replacing this expensive equipment, but without the right tools, firms are simply unable to work. 

It’s been well documented that vehicle theft is on the rise. The Association of British Insurers paid out £108million in Q1 of 2019, £1.2million every day… and the home office has recorded a 50% increase in vehicle thefts over the last five years. 

Despite all this doom and gloom, Sure-Track has operated at a 90% recovery rate over the last 14 years. 

A worrying half of the new cars launched this year have been given a poor security rating after Thatcham Research found their keyless entry systems could easily be bypassed by thieves.

The Association of British Insurers also said its members paid out a record £376m for car thefts in 2018 with a car being stolen every six minutes in the UK.

Thatcham Research has been at the forefront of vehicle security since the 1990s when it introduced the New Vehicle Security Assessment (NVSA) to address levels of vehicle crime and launched the Thatcham Categories for Alarm and Immobiliser systems that is now established as an industry benchmark. 

As of 1 January 2019, all Thatcham Research security product assessments have been conducted under a new ‘Thatcham Security Certifications’ brand, an overarching service. The certification provides reassurance around the functionality, design and performance of alarms, immobilisers and tracking systems.