Retail Solutions - Fraud-busting IT software slashes B&Q staff theft

DIY specialist B&Q has shrunk its staff theft levels by£250,000 in six months by using loss-prevention software.

The IntelliQ system enables B&Q to identify patterns of fraud and gives the retailer enough time to act on the information before the perpetrators have slipped away.

Retailers are especially vulnerable to staff thefts during peak selling periods - such as Christmas - because stores are forced to take on temporary staff, whose employment history may be harder to verify. Often, the frauds conducted over these busy periods are not detected until long after fraudsters have moved on.

'Through our own efforts, we have made major inroads into loss,' said B&Q director of profit protection Laurence King. 'As a rule of thumb, for every hard pound saved through identified fraud, a pound is gained through deterrence.'