Repeat crime epidemic sweeping Britain’s hardworking traders

Almost half of British tradespeople hit by theft last year became repeat victims within the space of 12 months.

The explosion of recurrent thefts is having a devastating impact on the nation’s army of builders, electricians, plumbers with almost one in two victims revealing they had been targeted on multiple occasions.

New research from commercial insurer NFU Mutual found that overall, more than seven in 10 tradespeople experienced theft in the last year – and of those, 46% were hit by criminals on multiple occasions.

The most common theft for was from a site (35%), while a third had tools or equipment stolen from their vehicle and 16% said they had a vehicle taken over the past year.

Over a third suffered from theft twice, almost one in 10 (8%) were targeted three times and, alarmingly, 3% said they were stolen from more than three times in the last 12 months.

Opportunist thieves often strike vehicles at work sites where they spot equipment and tools being left unattended.

The research showed three-quarters of tradespeople admit leaving tools in their vehicle, while eight in 10 had left equipment on sites overnight.

Zoe Knight, Head of Commercial at NFU Mutual, said: “Tradespeople rely on their tools and vehicles for their job, so it’s extremely concerning to see the number of those surveyed who said they had been a victim of theft and, worse yet, those targeted on multiple occasions in the last 12 months.

“The fact the two biggest concerns among the industry are around replacing stolen equipment and being a victim of theft shows the importance of having protection in place and we would urge them to take steps to improve security where possible.”

Lee Wilcox, Co-founder and CEO of On The Tools, said: “Tool theft is a crisis that affects not only tradespeople’s livelihoods but also their mental health. It’s an epidemic we can no longer ignore.”

CASE STUDY

Devon-based Paul Ricketts launched his P&D Landscapes business in 2020 and has spent the last five years working from Cornwall to Lancashire, covering everything from full design and garden rebuilds to commercial kennels and specialist koi carp ponds.

Paul invested heavily in specialist tools and equipment but was left devastated just days before Christmas when thieves struck as he raced against time to finish building a patio.

He said: “We decided to load the van up so we could get an early start the next morning. My colleague took the van home and when he came to me in the morning the van had been done.

“They had bent the top of the side door down and emptied it. Straight away we knew they hadn’t just taken a shovel, they had got everything out of it.”

Thieves stole equipment worth thousands of pounds and although Paul managed to borrow equipment from friends to complete the job on time, he has since lost work as he waited for his insurance to pay so he could replace his essential tools.

“We are gradually replacing it all,” he said. “We had planned to work up to Christmas Eve, have Christmas Day and Boxing Day off, but then get straight back to work.

“Because this happened, we couldn’t do anything for two to three weeks because we didn’t have the kit – we are now behind so much and I have lost jobs out of it. We have never had to worry about when the next job was coming in, but now we have been because of this.”

Since the incident, Paul has added additional security to his van, property and also stores equipment in a secure lock-up – although the latter now adds just shy of two hours on to the day to go to and from it to load up – due to the fear of repeat offending.

He said: “They have done it once so you just know they will likely be back again because they know the insurance will have paid out and the tools are stocked again. They knew exactly what they were doing and what they were looking for.

“Something has to be done about this because it’s only going to get worse, it is not going to get any better.”