27 Sep PubWatch Forum for licensed premises – September 2023
Working in partnership with the Metropolitan Police and LBHF, Hammersmith BID continue to deliver the best practices in business crime reduction to licensed premises across Hammersmith.
The last Hammersmith BID Pubwatch meeting took place on Wednesday 13 September, where PC Dan Evans (Licensing Officer – Hammersmith and Fulham -Central West BCU) lead discussions regarding the return of football and the impact it could have on licensed premises. Evans also highlighted Operation Rana, the Drink Spiking Campaign and how the police will be dealing with drink spiking and the methods they will be used to find perpetrators as fast as possible. Licensing premises also raised concern about the increase in the use of fake £50 Scottish notes in the borough and Martyn’s Law (currently being discussed in parliament) and theft from motor vehicles.
The BID also invited Amrik Bhachu, Sales Manager for Ingenious, to talk about how they can provide support with recruitment. Ingeus is a fully funded recruitment service provider. Ingeus’s Restart Scheme helps eliminate barriers to employment that individuals may be facing (travel costs, training, uniforms, etc.) and supports businesses in filling vacancies for free. There is no contract for those using the service. The only requirement is that they provide feedback.
And finally, the BID team shared two campaigns with the pubs that we are looking into being part of:
One is the Walksafe App – Walksafe is a personal safety app. The app is free for users and includes homesafe, follow-me and interactive map features. Hammersmith BID proposes to introduce an enhanced element of the app. Pins would appear on the map highlighting which venues have had certain types of safety training (e.g., WAVE and Ask for Angela). This feature would allow people to anonymously report issues and help the BID support pubs requiring support training staff.
DrinkSafe campaign seeks to help the public feel safe, showing people they don’t need to fear spiking if armed with the correct information and protective measures. The organisation provides DrinkSafe covers and strips which test for minimal standard dosages of ketamine & GHB in seconds and act as an efficient way for the night-time economy to safeguard the customer, create evidence for reporting, and contact the police to conduct an early investigation.
Next Pubwatch meeting Wednesday November 15, 3 – 4 pm.