LEISURE AND RETAIL SAFETY WITHOUT HOSTILITY Customer security will always be a top priority for those managing retail parks. But
it shouldn’t come at the expense of creating a welcoming environment, as Jaz Vilkhu, Managing Director of Marshalls Landscape Protection, explains.
As retailers strive to differentiate their bricks-and-mortar offering from online competition, delivering an excellent customer experience is more important than ever.
The worlds of physical retail and hospitality have become closely intertwined, and this growing focus on selling experiences rather than just products has caused a shift in the role of shopping centres. Increasingly, the aim is to create spaces that encourage people to linger, explore and spend as much of their time and money as possible.
However, one concern that can compromise the quality of retail spaces is the need to protect visitors and retailers, using physical barriers, from the threat of accidental collisions and criminal activity, such as ram raiding. The latter has seen a disturbing upward trend in recent years. According to SaferCash - a security body that monitors the number of attacks on cash- in-transit couriers - attempts to steal cash machines in the UK rose from 400 in 2014 to 841 last year.
Under the country’s new Infrastructure Protection Act, pre-emptive features have to be considered early in the design process for any new development. Not only does this ensure that sufficient precautions are always taken, but it also gives those specifying security measures chance to consider exactly how they will affect the look and feel of the spaces in question.
“Under Singapore’s new Infrastructure Protection
Act, pre-emptive features have to be considered early in the design process for any
new development”
Combined with the risk of accidental vehicle impacts caused by crashes, careless driving and drivers falling asleep at the wheel, as well as the threat of terrorist- borne vehicle attacks, protective security has become a growing priority for those managing retail parks.
The risk of fortified spaces In many cases, the chosen means of protecting against these risks has been placing concrete blocks or metal barriers on the perimeter of the shopping area.
While these measures are physically effective and can serve the purpose of keeping visitors safe, they fail in another very important sense. They compromise the appearance of the space and the way it feels, having a detrimental effect on people’s readiness to feel at ease by serving as a constant reminder of the threat and potentially deterring customers from visiting.
As such, the aesthetics and ergonomics of protective measures in retail settings are arguably just as important as the ability to stop an oncoming vehicle.
Singapore leading the way Two years ago, Singapore introduced a law requiring security measures to be integrated into the design of any building that is iconic, attracts a high volume of footfall or houses essential services.
44 | TOMORROW’S FM
So, rather than installing utilitarian barriers with little concern for aesthetics or user experience, decision-makers are specifying decorative, protective street furniture, such as planters, seating, cycle stands and bollards, that enhance the space rather than detract from it.
Unfortunately, the UK currently has no such regulations. But that doesn’t mean that those responsible shouldn’t be thinking about the protective
measures that would work well in any given development, whether as part of the design process or retrospectively.
An uncompromising solution The growing need to defend busy spaces has been
met with innovation by manufacturers and as a result, buyers can now choose from a host of attractive and highly usable products that are crash-tested to the Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 68 standards, the strongest of which can stop a 7.5 tonne lorry travelling at 50mph. These include seating, litter bins, planters and bicycle racks that can be customised to fit in with specific schemes, as well as tastefully designed bollards that come in a range of different colours.
Their availability means there is no need to compromise between aesthetics and safety when selecting protective measures.
Putting these features in place at regular intervals can create a ring that is completely impenetrable even to heavy, fast moving vehicles but which, to the untrained eye, would not appear to have any defences in place. For those planning a criminal ram raid or terror attack, however, the measures will still act as a powerful deterrent.
Ultimately, the onus is on those who specify protective measures to keep retail spaces safe to follow Singapore’s example and avoid making important decisions at the last minute. This will help end the placement of ugly barriers and concrete blocks in spaces where enhancing the experience is a priority.
www.marshalls.co.uk/commercial/landscape-protection twitter.com/TomorrowsFM
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