New data has revealed that Belfast is the worst place for tool theft across the UK.
The study by online heating specialists BestHeating looked into the number of crimes that have affected tradespeople and identified the areas where tools are most commonly stolen.
The data show that over 40,000 cases were reported to the police during 2022, up by 13% on the previous year. Almost one in ten (9%) UK tradespeople said that they had their tools stolen in 2022
Belfast was found to be the most prominent area for burglars to strike, where nearly one in six (14.5%) respondents said they fell victim over the past 12 months here.
Birmingham is the second most likely place for tool theft, with one in nine (11%) saying they had tools stolen. This is just ahead of Norwich where a tenth of tradies experienced this crime. One in 11 tradespeople in Edinburgh were victims of tool theft, whilst 8.6% of London workers had their belongings stolen.
With 110 reports of tool theft every day, the prime area for thieves to strike are vans, sheds and garages, although some victims have stated how burglars entered their house to find equipment.
John Lawless, content marketing manager of BestHeating, comments on the findings: “Tradespeople are currently facing a lot of pressures from the rising cost of materials to customers not using them to save money, so it’s extremely worrying to see that these figures highlight crimes targeting them are rising at a vast rate. More needs to be done to protect tradespeople and harsher penalties should be in place for thieves as this can cost victims days of paid work whilst they scramble to replace tools that are a necessity complete jobs for customers.”
To help tradespeople protect their tools, Anthony Neary, managing director of security retailer Safe.co.uk, has provided three pieces of essential advice:
Theft deterrents
“Thieves want their robberies to be as simple as possible, so the more deterrents you can put in place the better. Use sturdy padlocks, toolboxes that are hard to break into, and high-security storage sheds, then they are more likely to leave your belongings alone and look for another target. Take this further and ensure there is a good alarm system in place on your vehicle, as this will alert people in the area that the vehicle has been compromised.”
Identify tools and leave records
“In case the worst does happen, make sure tools have been registered and given unique identification numbers. This increases the chance of being reunited with you tools should the police come into contact with them. Engrave specific marks known to you, even a name, number or postcode, will make it much harder to be sold on as the tools will be less desirable.”
Remove items from your vehicle
“Possibly the most commonly known piece of advice, yet so many tradespeople continue to ignore it and leave items in their vehicles overnight thinking they won’t be a victim. In some areas of the UK, vans are six times as likely to be broken into than cars, because thieves know that lots of tradespeople are too lazy to take their belongings out. When it comes to securing belongings, there are never enough precautions that you can put in place.”
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