New research is showing that Leeds is succeeding in battling business crime.
Insurance firm AXA produced figures for 2008 showing that Leeds was the sixth worst area for business crime in the country, however its new figures for 2009 show the city as the 15th worst area, signifying some improvement. The figures represent offences such as theft, arson and malicious damage at business premises.
Though an improvement the figures still mean that one in 26 firms was a victim of crime last year, which was 1.4 times the national average. The most common offence was theft but violence was said to have been involved in more than half of the incidents.
Nationally, the AXA figures show a slight fall in reported offences, down 0.8% on 2008, though the average claim submitted to AXA last year was over £4,000, up 58% on 2000.