LeedsBID has launched a business crime reduction partnership for Leeds city centre with West Yorkshire Police and Leeds City Council, giving member businesses a shared radio network and an app for reporting crime and anti-social behaviour. The partnership was announced on 28 July 2026.
Leeds Business Crime Reduction Partnership (LeedsBCRP) is a member-based partnership, officially endorsed by the police and the council, set up to address perceptions of safety and help reduce crime in the city centre. It will act as the combined voice of city centre businesses on crime and anti-social behaviour, working with businesses from both the daytime and night-time economies.
Members get a new radio and access to the Disc intelligence reporting and sharing app, with training and advice on making their businesses safer. As with other business crime reduction partnerships, businesses pay towards the service each year. LeedsBID has already put new network infrastructure in place, and the radios are supplied by M.R.S. Communications.
Why Leeds is doing it now
LeedsBID commissioned independent research which highlighted the need for more direct action on crime and anti-social behaviour, and for better engagement and communication on outcomes so that businesses feel confident about reporting. Business feedback ranged from a perceived lack of enforcement and consequences for offenders to the direct impact on staff and customers.
Karen Butler, Director of Place, Engagement and Safety at LeedsBID, said: “Over 80% of BIDs across the country deliver BCRPs. Until now, that hasn’t been the case in Leeds.”
Superintendent Matt Scott of West Yorkshire Police said: “Partnership really is the key word.”
The partnership has two permanent staff: Tris Margison, LeedsBCRP Manager, who is the direct contact for businesses, and Russ Pell, LeedsBCRP Co-ordinator. Businesses can contact the partnership at enquiries@leedsbcrp.co.uk or on 0113 4672780.
LeedsBID describes itself as the largest multi-sector Business Improvement District in the UK outside London, representing over 1,000 businesses and bringing £3.7m a year of investment to the city.
More on city centre businesses is in our companies section, and on the bars and venues of the night-time economy in hospitality.