Convenience stores to be offered security guards via app

A new private emergency response service is being brought to UK convenience retailers, providing a network of security guards that can be called on demand.

Launching next month, the app-based platform Aura said it could provide retailers with quicker response rates following the sector’s accusations about poor police attendance amid the retail crime surge.

It also provided a more affordable option than employing full-time guards, it added.

Retailers who sign up could download the app and create a profile of their store or stores, said Aura. When they needed help, they could then hit a ‘panic button’ within the app, which would then trigger a call from Aura’s 24/7 control room.

Once a nearby security guard was dispatched, retailers could track the officer on route with an ETA, creating an “Uber-like service for security responses”, Aura said.

“A big part of the problem is the expectation that police aren’t going to come and no one is going to follow up,” said UK MD Alex Booth. “But if you reset that expectation and you start showing that someone will arrive quickly, this will have an increasingly preventive impact.

“It’s about harnessing their collective capabilities and getting them to situations where they can make a difference faster. We’re putting the power of rapid security dispatch in the retailer’s hands.”

Aura was originally founded in South Africa in 2017 before launching a UK operation in 2021. In the UK, Aura responds to 140,000 customers including private residential properties, construction sites and government buildings, completing over 1,000 responses a month nationwide.

Aura so far has a 2,000-strong network of Security Industry Association licensed guards, who are trained in conflict resolution.

The average response time is 29 minutes, but Booth explained it was working towards a 20-minute solution as its network of security guards grows.

“Ultimately, we feel we can help retailers by getting security officers to situations faster than anyone else,” he said. “Especially when static guards are expensive, never mind out of hours. It’s a luxury that a lot of smaller retailers can’t afford.”

Upon the launch of the independent retail version of the app next month, retailers will be able to subscribe from 13p per day, with callouts costing around £45 per crime. Booth said symbol groups, such as Spar or Costcutter, could also deploy the technology across their company-owned estates.

Aura has been working with Nisa retailer Rav Garcha, who owns technology business Crucial Tech, to help spread the word of the upcoming service to his network of retailers.

“My own and thousands of independent shops up and down the country are being severely impacted by a variety of criminal behaviour,” said Garcha. “We want more support from the police, but this is increasingly hard to rely on when we most need it, so the Aura solution, which provides such easy access to local private security, will be a game-changer for us.”