Kendal businessmen, councillors and police listened with pride as the town was named one of the safest in Britain.

At an event in the town hall, Cumbria Police’s Chief Constable Craig Mackey presented the prestigious Safer Business Award – which has been bestowed on just 200 UK towns – to members of the South Lakes Business Against Crime Partnership, and congratulated them on making Kendal a “safer, more secure town for business, visitors and families”.


Left to right – Derek Armstrong, Cumbria Chamber of Commerce; Lawrence Conway, South Lakeland District Council; Craig Mackey, Cumbria Constabulary; Wendy Ingham, South Lakes Business Crime Manager; Peter Boyd, Chairperson of South Lakeland Business Against Crime Partnership; Terry Belshaw, South Lakeland Crime Prevention Officer.

Following a meeting in 2004 with Steve Booth of Action Against Business Crime (Home Office Initiative), Cumbria Chamber, in partnership with Peter Boyd of The Elephant Yard Shopping Centre, Kendal and the police, agreed to set up the Kendal Business Against Crime Partnership (KBACP).  A steering committee made up of public/private sector interested parties and supported by the police was created and a Business Crime Manager for Kendal was recruited.

The scheme oversees Radiolink within the retail sector and the night time economy (Barwatch) and ensures communication between the shops in the town and a direct link between the numerous pubs and clubs.

Working with the police the scheme produces the photographs and intelligence of offenders and distribute these to the scheme members working with other schemes and the police, it also receives and acts upon intelligence received from outside of the area to identify movement of offenders into the town.

The Chamber has been supportive to the partnership as it has such a close link with the business community and Derek Armstrong sits on the partnership board as business representative and treasurer.

So successful has the scheme become, that the partnership have been approached by the police and Barrow Town Centre Retailers and the Windermere and Bowness areas to ‘roll out’ the scheme and set up initiatives in those areas.  The scheme has recently been renamed as the South Lakes Business Against Crime Partnership (SLBACP).

Derek Armstrong, Business Development Manager with Cumbria Chamber of Commerce says, “Much hard work, not only by the board but also the businesses involved has gone into making this scheme one of the most successful nationally and the winning of the Safer Business Award is testament to the partnership working involved and the fantastic work of the Business Crime Manager, Wendy Ingham.”

Peter Boyd, Chairperson of South Lakes Business Against Crime Partnership has been part of the partnership since it was set up at the end of 2004.  “The partnership was set up with the aim of uniting day and night-time businesses because we wanted to ensure Kendal remained a safe place to shop, live, visit and raise a family.  By receiving this award we have proved that our aims have been achieved.”

The Safer Business Award plaque can be seen in The Elephant Yard Shopping Centre and The Westmorland Shopping Centre.