Next is one of the UK’s leading high street fashion retailers. Since 2016, Forcefield has worked directly with Next to protect its people and stores, providing alarm response, mobile security patrols, and emergency and temporary guarding across the estate.
The challenge
Next’s stores account for £1.8 billion of annual sales*. When the partnership began in 2016, Next wanted to stop relying on its own employees to attend store alarms. As an employer that puts safety first, its priority was to remove any risk of employees handling potentially dangerous situations.
Next was also expanding its store portfolio, and the cost of employee alarm attendance was growing with it. Transport to and from premises, rota disruption from the leave required after attending alarms, and time in lieu payments would all keep increasing as more stores opened.
At the same time, Next had limited insight into what was causing false alarm activations, or how to manage them.
Next needed a flexible approach that would:
- protect its employees
- give greater insight into false alarm activations
- help manage a growing store estate efficiently and cost-effectively
How we helped with mobile security
Alarm response across the estate
Our first priority was making sure alarm activations at 250 of Next’s stores were attended and secured by trained officers, 24 hours a day, so employees no longer had to go out to them. The roll-out took a matter of weeks.
Data that explains every alarm
Next also wanted better visibility of security across the whole estate. Live dashboards on our platform gave store teams immediate access to data showing which activations were genuine intrusions and which had behavioural causes, such as cleaning staff setting off alarms by accident.
Heat maps show where and when alarms go off most often, with the reasons and timeframes alongside, so teams can spot unusual patterns quickly and reduce unnecessary callouts.
“Forcefield have been a key partner for helping us formulate better, data-driven approaches for our physical security strategy.”
Patrols, access and day-to-day support
Next uses the platform daily to manage its store estate remotely. Opening and closing stores for contractors out of hours, mobile security patrols and guarding can all be booked and changed on demand. Teams can search by site to see what has been booked, whether it has been completed, and any notes on incidents during the job.
During the first national lockdown in 2020, that support stretched further. Officers made over 2,000 visits to empty stores in 12 weeks to flush water systems and keep them free of legionella, then unlocked stores for contractors installing Perspex screens ahead of reopening. All of this ran alongside normal alarm response.
“Forcefield were a critical part of navigating the challenges of lockdown successfully. The support and communication the team provided were invaluable in making sure our sites were kept safe, secure and ready to reopen to the public. We couldn’t have done it without them.”
How we helped with guarding
In 2022, industry-wide shortages made it very difficult to find trained security officers at scale. Next was struggling to fill several long-term vacancies in its in-house guarding team. Those roles are critical to preventing stock loss and keeping customers and employees safe.
Next needed temporary guarding it could rely on to cover the shortfall, and to place officers quickly in areas seeing a rise in crime.
Through a network of 200 partner companies and access to 11,000 officers nationwide, we could provide officers licensed by the Security Industry Authority (SIA) at short notice, ready to work at stores with vacancies or an urgent need for extra security.
We started with a trial at stores in Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool, working closely with Next to make sure the right people were in place. Every officer was fully briefed before arrival, with clear information on arrival time, uniform and the tasks they needed to carry out. Support then expanded to stores in Sheffield and Lincoln, and to several Victoria’s Secret stores.
When absence rose over the festive period, Next needed extra cover urgently. We put officers in place at its most high-profile and high-risk stores across 60 locations nationwide, including one of its top 10 performing stores in the country.
“Forcefield have proven on multiple occasions to be a consistent, reliable source for quality security guards. I highly recommend them to anyone looking for additional support.”
The results
- Employees protected. Trained officers have attended alarm activations from the start, so Next’s employees no longer have to.
- Fewer unnecessary callouts. Using the alarm data and our response team, Next can triage activations to decide whether they need attending. The savings have been reinvested in future-proofing the business, including building a Security Operations Centre.
- Lockdown savings. Next credited us with saving it £97,000 during the 2020 lockdown, by folding its unexpected requirements into the existing service agreement and removing the need for multiple contractors.
- A preferred guarding supplier. Following the trial, we became one of Next’s preferred suppliers for temporary and emergency guarding.
- The whole estate. We now secure Next’s entire portfolio of over 600 stores nationwide, including Victoria’s Secret stores.
Find out more about alarm response, mobile security patrols and temporary and emergency guarding.
