28-09-2006
Small businesses victims of anti-social behaviour
Over half of the UK's small business owners have been the victim of abusive and threatening behaviour either at work or while away on company business, a new survey has shown.
Research by business insurer Zurich has revealed that 54 per cent of owners have been targeted by bad language, general intimidation or acts of vandalism, causing day-to-day disruption and posing an increased threat to their employees.
Over one tenth of the businesses surveyed said that they had experienced anti-social behaviour from customers and one in twenty said that children were behind the problem.
Over a tenth of respondents in London and the south-east claimed to have experienced actual physical assault, while a fifth of small businesses in the capital said that they had been targeted by graffiti.
Fourteen per cent of Londoners claimed to have been the victim of racism while, in Scotland, sexism was cited as a major problem, with one in ten small firms saying that it has had a detrimental effect on their business.
David Nichols, small business manager for Zurich's UK commercial business, says that malicious damage cover can protect a business against costly repairs for often-repeated acts of vandalism and warns that employers should be aware of the potential impact of any litigation that might be brought against them by employees who have been subjected to anti-social behaviour.
