Case Study 23 September 2006

INVESTING IN SECURITY
How LaSalle Investment Management uses state of the art security to protect their client's assets.

For LaSalle Investment Management Ltd getting the right security is vital for protecting their clients' assets. One such client, Coal Pension Properties Ltd is one of the largest single UK pension funds and comprises of £2.6 billion worth of property assets in the UK. Some of the properties are industrial sites that LaSalle has identified as good investment opportunities for their clients.
"The key to performance is in active management of the sites." Explains Christopher Dawes associate director at LaSalle, warning: "If they are not managed well they are often trashed." LaSalle maintain their sites in good order, which helps to increase the value of the investment by creating a desirable location for businesses to rent units in. Most of LaSalle's industrial sites rarely suffer from security problems during the day, incidents usually occur after working hours. And when the tenant suffers it has a direct impact upon LaSalle's investment.

KELVIN WAY
The Kelvin Way trading estate in West Bromwich, in the Midlands was bought a few years ago by LaSalle on behalf of the Coal Pension Properties Ltd. What looked like a good investment was starting to prove problematic. With over 40 business units, situated in a prime business location, Kelvin Way was under attack from night-time break-ins almost every other day. Thieves attacked the businesses for computers and small saleable items or would even steal vehicles parked there overnight. During weekends the problems continued, it was becoming common for three or four tenancies to be broken in to. The problem escalated when, on a Saturday morning, a lorry ram raided an electrical wholesaler. This was a serious attack during which thousands of pounds of damage was done to the unit and a person was injured as the lorry crashed into it.

The increasing levels of crime were adversely affecting the tenants at Kelvin Way. Many of the units were empty and future voids were on the cards, as Mr Dawes explains: "We had units to let in a well positioned trading estate, but local businesses didn't want to rent them because, understandably, they didn't want to get broken into. We knew we had to do something about it straightaway."

At the time Kelvin Way had an 'antiquated' CCTV system and ineffective mobile guard patrol. Mr Dawes decided to start afresh and commissioned SSAIB approved Turner Security Group, specialists in access control and CCTV - particularly remote monitoring and transmission, for the installation and maintenance of the new system. "The people at Turner Security Group are very knowledgeable and switched on about CCTV, and we have a good professional relationship with them." comments Mr Dawes.

The work was completed last June; Turner Security Group designed a system to cover the main entrance to Kelvin Way, the whole of the site perimeter and main road through the business units. Six Pelco dome cameras and one static JVC camera were installed, as well as a hard disk digital video recorder/transmitter for permanent recording of all images. 16 Redwall passive infra red detectors, some covering 180 metre ranges, were positioned along the perimeter fence. There are 48 external speakers plus an intercom system to provide full 2-way audio communication. If an alarm is activated at one of the perimeter sensors, the cameras are pre programmed to immediately switch to that area and review what's going on. The site is monitored remotely via broadband, from a control room near Heathrow Airport. After the system was installed at Kelvin Way there were no attempted break-in for at least six months, there have been a few attempts since then. Whenever an intruder is detected the security officers at the control room monitor the situation through the CCTV cameras. The images are recorded on hard disk locally and remotely. A local mobile patrol is sent to investigate and security officers send warnings through the loud speakers around the site that the police are on their way. The assailants usually leave immediately when this happens. In addition to the CCTV, Mr Dawes also commissioned a new barrier at the entrance to the estate and increased the amount of lighting at night.

In addition to design and installation, Turner Security Group also provides maintenance to three sites for LaSalle, including Kelvin Way and the monitoring station. Using broadband connectivity service manager Alan Fuller is able to check the system remotely, from any PC or his laptop computer. In this way remote diagnostics can be made quickly if a camera has failed to work. Alan simply dials-in to each camera and checks that it is working properly. He can also remotely access recordings from the DVR while the system is still running: "Most of the time I can resolve any problem remotely over the Internet." Comments Fuller, he continues: "This is a big time saver for events that would traditionally have required a site visit to first assess the situation before making any necessary repairs." Turner Security Group has been quick to adopt networked security; and has developed full duplex audio over the Internet (believed to be the only Company to achieve this), embracing the advantages of being able to service their clients' sites more quickly and efficiently. There were also major manpower advantages to be gained from the new networked security system at Kelvin Way as there were no longer requirements for a night guard. As a result, the large cost savings paid for the system within 12 months.

Mr Dawes is convinced that giving the trading estate a 'make-over', with new security, additional lighting and landscaping is helping to keep-out the criminal fraternity. As an added benefit Kelvin Way has attracted new tenants. Now only three business units remain empty compared to the 12 or 13 before the changes were made. This helps LaSalle keep their client's investment secure and performing well.
END
For further information and a selection of photos, please contact: