When a business closes for the night, risk does not shut down with it. For many UK sites, the quiet hours are when incidents are most likely to slip through unnoticed, and when the cost of “we’ll deal with it in the morning” can snowball.
Retail is a good snapshot of the wider problem. The British Retail Consortium has highlighted that customer theft reached 20.4 million incidents, costing retailers £2.2 billion, and that retailers spent £1.8 billion on crime prevention measures. Official police-recorded shoplifting has also been hitting record highs, while retailers continue to argue the true scale is far higher due to underreporting.
Those pressures do not stay in retail. Industrial units, yards, trade counters, offices, and hospitality venues face the same reality: out-of-hours incidents happen, and the outcome depends heavily on whether there is a clear response plan.
What businesses face without out-of-hours cover
Without 24/7 keyholding and mobile response, these are the common pain points:
• Incidents drag on longer than they should, If an alarm activates at 2am and nobody attends, you’re giving time and space to whatever caused it, whether that’s a break-in, attempted entry, or damage.
• “We’ll check it in the morning” becomes costly. Overnight incidents often turn into: additional damage, higher losses, disruption the next day, and staff arriving to uncertainty.
• Police response isn’t a simple given In the UK, police response to alarms is tied to standards and eligibility. Under the NPCC security systems policy, intruder alarm systems generally need a URN (Unique Reference Number) and response can be withdrawn after repeated false calls (for example, three false calls in a rolling 12 months for intruder alarms). That means many businesses still need a reliable, accountable attendance plan that doesn’t depend on “maybe”
• Insurance, liability and due diligence get harder. After an incident, the questions are predictable: What time did it happen? Who attended? What was found? What was done? If there’s no controlled process, you’re left with gaps.
What “24-hour security” should mean in practice
For many businesses, 24-hour security does not mean a guard physically on site at all times. The most practical model is a combination of:
• Keyholding: controlled access held securely, so a trained responder can get in without delay.
• Mobile response: a local, trained attendance that checks properly and takes control of the situation.
• Clear reporting: time-stamped notes of what happened, what was found, and what actions were taken.
This is the difference between “we received an alert” and “the incident was managed”.
How it should be handled (a simple, professional process)
Good response is boring by design. Boring means controlled. A solid process looks like this:
• Alert received (alarm, monitoring centre, staff call, CCTV trigger).Responder deployed with the right site information (access plan, keyholding protocol, contact list).
• Site checked properly, not guessed at: perimeter, doors, shutters, entry points, and internal checks where safe and appropriate.
• Site secured and stabilised: reset where required, prevent further access, and preserve the condition of the site.
• Client informed with a clear update: what happened, what was found, what was done, and what is needed next.
Quick checklist for business owners and managers
• If you are reviewing your out-of-hours protection, ask yourself:
• If an alarm activates at 3am, who actually attends?
• Do they have controlled access, or are they stuck outside waiting?
• Will they check the site properly, or just do a quick drive-by?
• Will you get a clear record of attendance and actions taken?
• Is the process consistent across weekends, holidays, and staff changes?
Out-of-hours incidents are rarely predictable, but how they are handled can be. A structured approach to keyholding and mobile response removes uncertainty, limits damage, and keeps control where it belongs. In practice, it is not about expecting the worst. It is about being ready for it. That is the standard responsible businesses should expect from their out-of-hours protection.
