New research from our members has found 38% of small firms are not reporting crimes against their business because they do not think it would lead to a successful prosecution.

The FSB findings call into question the accuracy of the current crime statistics and suggest low levels of trust in the ability of the police to deal with business crime among small businesses.

Our research shows that 24% of smaller business owners do not report any crimes committed against their business.

When asked why, 46% said they felt reporting it would not achieve anything positive.

This figure has not changed in six years, highlighting an ongoing lack of confidence in the authorities’ ability to address business crime over that period, despite the creation of Police and Crime Commissioners in 2012.

While the new definition of business crime adopted by the police in April 2015 is a real step forward, there is still a long way to go in understanding and addressing the true extent of the problem.

Crime affects all businesses but it impacts smaller firms the hardest as they cannot absorb the unexpected costs.

Two thirds of those surveyed by FSB have been a victim of cyber crime in the last two years, while just under half have been a victim of non-cyber crime, and 53% have been a victim of both.

These worrying findings come as candidates seeking to become PCCs set out their stall to voters over the coming weeks.

FSB in Kent has produced a manifesto that urges candidates to put business crime at the heart of their plans to ensure this issue is finally addressed.