Southwark Safe: new business crime reduction partnership

Shops, restaurants and nightclubs around Elephant & Castle and Walworth Road have joined forces to help reduce crime and disorder by working more closely together in a new business partnership.

The Southwark Safe Business Partnership launched last month with 40 members as part of a new digital radio network for sharing real-time information with each other and the police.

In early December Stephen Greenhalgh, London's deputy mayor for policing and crime, visited businesses in Walworth Road to mark the launch of the new partnership.

The new partnership will expand beyond Elephant & Castle to cover more of the borough, and is being led by the Safer London Business Partnership with £54,000 of support from the Mayor's Office for Policing And Crime (MOPAC).

"Safer London Business Partnership is thrilled to be launching its third business crime reduction partnership into such a diverse and vibrant borough as Southwark," said operations director Hannah Wadey.

"This new scheme will only go towards reinforcing our strong partnerships in Westminster and Lambeth, putting Safer London at the forefront of business crime reduction."

Ministry of Sound at Elephant & Castle was one of the first businesses to join. Club general manager Andy Mackenzie said: "We are delighted to be able to join the Southwark Safe partnership.

"It is a brilliant innovation that gives us instant access to the other businesses and the authorities.

"To know that all stakeholders have welcomed and joined the new service is really encouraging and we will be making full use of it in the future."