Only the day before student riots had broken out in the capital due to increased student loans. Although the riots had started as peaceful, a section of people were increasing tension within the crowds and damage and vandalism had started.
Only the day before student riots had broken out in the capital due to increased student loans. Although the riots had started as peaceful, a section of people were increasing tension within the crowds and damage and vandalism had started.
John Davenport, Head of Loss Prevention for Arcadia, had to take action to prevent the store and its staff from being involved in any physical threat. With a busy weekend looming he had to take immediate action. By adding extra CCTV cameras Arcadia would be able to foresee any problems from their central control room and manage onsite security to key locations in the store.
After contacting their current incumbent installer for this location to see if they could fit the necessary equipment immediately without any success Arcadia turned to Kings their main UK, CCTV and intruder alarm supplier.
Tony Eastwood the Kings, Arcadia account manager received a call at 10am on Friday the 10th outlining the situation. By 12 noon Tony had met with John Davenport and a survey had been carried out Tony then contacted the Kings directors to discuss what was required all this in a 2 hour timescale!
The findings from the survey weren't collated. Kings warehousing and logistics team then stepped in to ensure that all specialist equipment was dispatched and guaranteed to hit London for 9pm that evening when the store closed and installation would commence.
The Arcadia upgrade was originally planned to be a stand-alone installation, working independently of the existing CCTV setup. Once on-site Kings realized that due to the complexity of the existing monitoring equipment the planned installation would not communicate with the Arcadia control room the only option was to integrate the new CCTV system into the existing infrastructure.
By 6pm the 22 strong installation team, including Anthony King, MD and Steve Evans, Commercial Director were ready to go. With over 200,000 people visiting the store each week keeping downtime to a minimum was essential so Kings waited until the store closed at 9pm to start work.
Once the doors were shut it was a case of all hands on deck! The location of the shop imposed a few logistical difficulties, as it is central to Oxford Circus. Kings had to organise and supply vehicle mounted access platforms to enable the installation of the high level external cameras whilst ensuring pedestrians and staff were safe. The size of the shop meant that over 3.5km of cable was installed during the night.
After a long adrenaline filled night TOPSHOP opened as usual at 9am the following morning, with key cameras online to monitor activity. The final part of the integration was complete by 5pm on Saturday. In total 10 external speed domes, 2 internal speed domes, 7 external fixed domes and 6 internal cameras were installed in just 20 hours from physical work commencing in addition to it all being done on a Friday night although pizzas were provided at half time!