Staff fiddles 'hit one in four firms'

NEARLY a quarter of small firms have uncovered staff fiddles in the past year, a survey claims. The poll, by the Bank of Scotland, shows that 11% of the business had lost up to £1,000 and 4% up to £5,000.

The bank said frauds involving sums greater than £5,000 were rare, but that small-scale losses could still have a serious impact on profitability.

'A loss of £1,000 is far greater to a small business than to a corporate giant,' said bank official Barry Gardner. 'While most corporations will have quite sophisticated policies for policing and detecting staff fraud, small businesses probably don't. If their staff are stealing from them, it's like candy is being stolen from the baby - it's more of a personal thing.'

Businesses were unafraid to take action against staff who have been conning them. Nearly one in ten respondents said they had sacked or disciplined a member of staff as a result of fraud or theft over the past three years. This was more common among large companies (21%) than medium (14%) or small firms (7%). Firms with male bosses were more likely to experience staff fraud than those headed by women.

Opinion Research Business, which conducted the poll, interviewed 1,000 owners or managers of small businesses in May and June this year.