Mayor of Sutton Coldfield, Councillor David Allan praised Protect and Serve for its focus and drive as a business, as he cut a ribbon at an official opening of the company’s new offices in the town.

The Mayor was at the alarm company’s new premises – a series of offices at The Moat House on Lichfield Road - which they took over just before Christmas. Staff and clients gathered to celebrate the move and toast the fact the company plans to double its workforce again in 2020, from eight to 16. Champagne and canapes were served as people were given the chance to network, before the Mayor, Councillor Allan performed the official opening ceremony. He paid tribute to the company’s directors and staff and thanked them for staying loyal to the town. Councillor Allan said: “I am delighted to be asked to perform this ceremony and understand the reason Protect and Serve moved to these premises is that the company has recently doubled in size and needed more space. “That is just the sort of news we want to hear about a good, up and coming business of Sutton Coldfield.” He added: “It is great to see a business thriving due to a demand for their products and taking on new people from our locality. “I welcome such good news and would say congratulations to you all.” Protect and Serve said: “We were absolutely thrilled to welcome the Mayor to officially open our new offices, having met him at a recent Sutton Coldfield Chamber of Commerce event, which we are proud members of. “His background is in engineering and he really showed an interest in our company and our staff. We are very excited for the future in our new home.”

Protect and Serve has been celebrating a major coup following their part in a prestigious Business of the Year Awards.

The alarm company finished runners-up in the Sutton Coldfield Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year award at a glittering ceremony at the Belfry Hotel and Golf Resort last month. Although the company just missed out on the overall trophy – won by Sutton-based catering firm Caviar and Chips – it beat scores of other businesses to be shortlisted. Protect and Serve were on-hand at the awards to discover they had narrowly missed out to the catering firm who use locally sourced products and have been active in training and working with young people. They were proud to discover their runners-up spot had been in recognition of Protect and Serve’s expansion in 2019 and its charitable work within the local community. Protect and Serve said: “Although we didn’t win, it was an honour to be part of such a prestigious evening and to go so close in what was our very first attempt at entering an awards competition. “We are very proud of all our staff and the progress we have made over the last 12 months. Congratulations to Caviar and Chips though on their well-deserved trophy.” The awards- now in their fourth year- were sponsored by Elonex and run by the Chamber in a bid to recognise good business locally.

A wave of burglaries at the luxury mansions of the rich and famous has sparked fears over the ease with which raiders are able to bypass sophisticated home security systems.

In the past few weeks a host of big-name sporting stars including boxer Chris Eubank Junior and Premier League footballer Mamadou Sakho have reported burglaries at their multi-million homes  with thousands upon thousands of pounds’ worth of property stolen. In a raid on British middleweight champion Eubank Junior’s house in Hove, Sussex on January 22, burglars escaped with his wardrobe of designer clothes and high-end shoes but missed a diamond Rolex watch which he had left in his wash bag. Sakho, who plays for Crystal Palace, was away with his wife Majda and their three children when intruders struck his home on a private gated estate in Wimbledon. The couple, who rent their multi-million house from former Chelsea and Arsenal star Nicolas Anelka, are said to have had approximately £500,000 of property stolen including jewellery and designer goods. Just last month Scotland Yard were called in to investigate reports that celebrity chef Marcus Wareing had fallen prey to a gang of so-called burglary tourists who had travelled to the UK from Chile. The gang targeted his £5 million Wimbledon home while he and his wife were overseas. Neighbours in Wimbledon fear the burglaries could be the work of a copy-cat of the so-called Wimbledon Prowler who was arrested and jailed in 2014 after targeting homes in the area. The break-ins are not just centred around London-based celebrities though. In the West Midlands footballers have also been targeted, including Aston Villa defender Neil Taylor whose luxury home in Solihull was targeted and his cars stolen after raiders smashed into his home. Former England and Manchester United star Wayne Rooney saw an audacious raid on his £20 million mansion thwarted however when the burglars were startled by his alarm system. Protect and Serve say: “Home alarms and CCTV provide protection and act as a deterrent but there will always be sophisticated burglars who will be one step ahead. “We provide monitored systems which mean that if an alarm is activated, we can have someone at the premises within 20 minutes. It is impossible to say we can stop every type of intruder but the more deterrents you have the more likely it is that your home will be safe. ”As a customer-focused company in an ever-changing world, we are always proactively assessing and responding to changes that affect the wellbeing and security of our customers. “Our UK-wide geographical footprint means we can meet the demand for protection, care and security of anyone of any age or walk of life, with cost-effective security and a guaranteed response when and where needed.”

The West Midlands is the most dangerous place after London for car crime, according to police statistics revealed this week.

Vehicle thefts or thefts from a vehicle topped more than 27,000 incidents in this region in 2019, way ahead of third-placed Yorkshire with 18,422. Only London with 98,177 saw more. And worryingly, for those affected, a suspect is not located or identified in 93 per cent of cases in the West Midlands, with only 0.2 per cent of cases nationally seeing an offender given a community sentence, caution or sent to jail. With January statistically the worst month for such crimes due to the darker nights, motorists are being warned to be extra vigilant and take as many steps as they can to protect themselves and their vehicles. The police statistics have been analysed by number plate provider Click4Reg which discovered there were more than 375,000 vehicle crimes nationally in 2019. Just 255 offenders were jailed, with 82 fined. The rise in incidents has been partly blamed on the increase of keyless car thefts as criminals use increasingly sophisticated technology to gain access to cars. Thieves use radio signals to unlock the vehicle in a much quicker and quieter way than smashing a window. In many cases residents found their cars had been stolen in seconds. A spokesman for the Association of British Insurers said professional thieves were becoming more sophisticated in the technology they use to steal unattended vehicles and more brazen and violent when targeting vehicles when the driver is present. Sutton Coldfield based home security company, Protect and Serve, admitted car crime was difficult to stop but said there were certain measures homeowners could take to avoid it, including fitting a monitored alarm to their property. “A house alarm will stop thieves in their tracks if they try to break in to steal car keys,” they say. “Of course, keyless cars can be stolen without the thieves coming into the property, but a good security system could be the difference when they are identifying addresses to target." “A home alarm - linked directly to a monitoring station, plus added extras such as a security light and a CCTV system, can all act as deterrents. “At Protect and Serve we are always happy to provide a free quotation on the best way to protect your home, your property and your family.” For more details contact Protect and Serve on 0333 666 2121 or email enquiries@protectandserve.co.uk

With Christmas fast approaching, here are some top tips to beat the festive burglar.

Christmas is a time of giving, but it can also be a time of taking where burglars are concerned. And it won’t just be retailers working long hours over the build up to the festivities, as the felons will also be working overtime. Domestic burglaries traditionally go up during the winter months with the darker nights and people filling their homes with costly gifts including jewellery and electrical items ahead of the festive season. In the Sutton Coldfield area already this winter West Midlands Police have warned of 12 house burglaries or attempted burglaries in as many days last month and ten so-called car key burglaries in five days during early December. So how can homeowners take precautions to protect their homes and their loved ones at this time of year? Sutton Coldfield based leading security company Protect and Serve has these top tips…. Please read our tips to ensure your home is secure over Christmas and the New Year period.

1. Deterring would-be criminals is one of the most effective forms of crime prevention. Invest in a motion sensor flood-light or even some outdoor Christmas lights to highlight your home’s exterior. A well-lit home will make any intruder more conscious and therefore deter a burglar.
2. Highlighting the fact your possessions are security marked through window stickers helps warn would-be thieves that your goods are marked, traceable and therefore not worth the risk of stealing.
3. Festive lighting should be properly installed. If you do install outdoor festive lighting don’t feed cables through partially open windows as you are also leaving yourself open to intrusion.
4. Dispose of gift packaging carefully.Refuse collections over the Christmas/New Year period are normally at different times. If you can’t take packaging to a recycling point, make sure you only put your rubbish out just before the collection and do your best to fold boxes so that they do not advertise the new contents of your home to thieves!
5. Dispose of receipts and personal paperwork by first shredding it. Christmas is a time when this is especially important as people hold on to receipts and bank statements which could expose them to fraud. Be careful not to shred any important warranty details and store documents you need somewhere secure.
6. Check doors and windows for weak spots. Government statistics show that 30% of burglaries happen through windows. Installing a few dead-bolts and new window hinges could increase the security of your home
7. Keep your curtains, drapes and window blinds closed at night, making sure valuable items are out of sight. When going out for the evening make use of inexpensive timers to give the illusion that you are home.
8. If you are away over Christmas, plan ahead. Cancel any newspaper or milk subscriptions and arrange for a neighbour to park on the driveway to help create the impression someone is home. Set up light timers.
9. Secure garages and sheds and make sure ladders or tools that could be used to secure entry are locked away.
10. Install a Protect and Serve fully monitored alarm system. Contact 0333 666 21 21 for further details and a free quote.

In exciting news, Protect & Serve has been shortlisted for the Chamber of Commerce Sutton Coldfield Small Business of the Year 2019 Award. Out of hundreds of applications, we are proud to announce that we have been selected as one of five companies in the running to scoop this prestigious award. Our application was approved by the panel of Chamber judges, as we successfully displayed how our business has grown over the past three years and how we have positively contributed to the local community and workforce, plus what our vision is for the business, alongside our main objectives for the following three years. We feel extremely honoured to be selected as a finalist for the Chamber of Commerce Sutton Coldfield Small Business of the Year 2019 Award, and we look forward to finding out if we have won at the Sutton Coldfield, Lichfield & Tamworth Chambers of Commerce Annual Dinner & Awards on Friday 24th January 2020. To find out who else has been shortlisted, click here.