SitexOrbis alarm solution saves £1m in stolen boilers

Published by Debansu Das for Sitex Orbis Ltd in Housing and also in Communities

An alarm solution from vacant property protection specialist SitexOrbis is saving a Liverpool social housing provider an estimated £1 million by preventing the theft of boilers from its empty properties. One Vision Housing estimates that since installing the SitexOrbis alarm solution in one property, boiler theft has fallen from at least two per week to none, equating to about £1 million over four years.

Theft attempts have fallen since the arrest of several intruders who broke into an empty property containing a SitexOrbis Videofied portable intruder alarm with a visual verification camera. The camera was activated as soon as the intruders entered, transmitting a series of 10-second video images to SitexOrbis’ 24/7 BS5979 Category II accredited alarm receiving centre (ARC) in north-west England. A trained SitexOrbis operator immediately alerted Merseyside Police who reviewed the video footage and were able to track the intruders down.

One Vision housing gas manager Eric Wignall said: “Following these arrests, the word has obviously spread around the criminal network that we, in conjunction with the police and SitexOrbis, are actively fighting boiler theft. Before we installed the alarm solution we were facing in excess of two stolen boilers a week and now we’re at zero. This will lead to massive cost savings. If we had not installed the solution, for the next four years we would have had to put aside £1 million to cover the cost of stolen boilers.”

SitexOrbis and One Vision have previously worked together successfully to prevent boiler theft. In 2010 Merseyside Police arrested and charged two burglars in connection with breaking into two One Vision properties containing SitexOrbis Videofied alarms. Eric Wignall continued: “SitexOrbis proved to us in 2010 that their equipment can successfully tackle boiler theft. Unfortunately the theft attempts have since started up again and we have been losing over 100 boilers a year, which equates to millions of pounds. So we were more than willing to turn to SitexOrbis again. Given this latest success, my recommendation is to continue to add more SitexOrbis alarm solutions to more of our vacant properties.”

Mark Cosh, sales and marketing director at SitexOrbis, said: “Our Videofied alarm solution has proven again and again to be a cost effective way of helping the police catch thieves in trouble hotspots. When our operatives at the ARC contact the police they can be sure that it is a genuine alarm. If an arrest is then made, the police can also potentially use the video footage as evidence in court. We are delighted that our Videofied alarm solution has again proven a real success for One Vision, saving them a significant amount of money and inconvenience.”

In January 2012 the government announced that cash payments for scrap metal are to be outlawed and fines significantly increased to tackle the growing problem of metal theft. Copper is worth around three times its value of just two years ago while lead is worth more than five times its value of nine years ago. The problem is compounded in Liverpool where burglary rates from 2010 to 2011 were considerably higher than the national average at 13.2 per cent versus 9.6 per cent, according to data supplied by the Home Office.

About SitexOrbis’ Videofied alarm solution
SitexOrbis’ Videofied alarm solution is a rapidly deployable and cost-effective visual verification alarm system that can be used anywhere. As soon as movement is detected, the alarm is triggered and the system automatically captures a 10 second recording. Short video footage is immediately monitored by trained operators at the SitexOrbis Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC) where agreed protocols, such as alerting the police, are actioned immediately. The system has won praise from the police for reducing false alarms and helping to identify perpetrators.

About SitexOrbis
SitexOrbis provides a complete vacant property service for commercial property and social housing. From securing the property with the right type of screens and cleaning and clearing it of debris to monitoring it with battery-powered video alarms. All services are backed up by Aura, SitexOrbis’ real-time web-based workflow management and reporting systems enabling customers to instruct, control and track the progress of jobs undertaken by their contractors,

In the UK the company protects more than 50,000 properties as well as 10,000 lone workers, cleans 20,000 properties annually and provides infection control, long-term mould eradication and access control. The group generates a combined turnover of in excess of £50 million and employs more than 700 people.
www.sitexorbis.com | 0800 083 0850 | info@sitexorbis.com