Boosting Security and Efficiency for Retail

Welcoming over 30 million people through its doors each year, the Trafford Centre in Manchester is one of the UK's largest shopping and entertainment venues.

While each retailer has their own surveillance and security set-up, it is the task of Lee Barlow – Operations Manager for Security and Data – and his team to secure all public areas, from management space, service areas and car parks to the food hall and miles of walk space.

Remote evidence sharing to save precious time

One of the most recent technologies Lee and his team adopted is a remote evidence-sharing solution from Synectics.

The technology allows surveillance operators based in the Trafford Centre’s control room to share evidential footage held in a dedicated locker quickly and securely via a web link to authorised external stakeholders, including Greater Manchester Police, Metropolitan Police and insurance agents.

“Previously, we would have had to save footage to disks or USB drives and physically mail these out to the respective contacts. A much slower and weaker evidence chain. Not to mention a costly exercise when you factor in postage for fast, secure delivery.”

Mapping that makes life simpler

Using their Synergy security and surveillance platform, the Trafford Centre team monitor and manage footage from around 700 Synectics cameras spanning the building itself and surrounding parking zones – an estate well over 2 million square feet in size.

Being able to quickly pinpoint the location of an incident and access corresponding location data that may add context to response – for instance, nearby facilities, exit points and proximity of potential support teams – is invaluable to Lee and his team.

“We used to rely on standard image mapping”, says Lee, “but we wanted to take advantage of Synergy’s latest capabilities, which allow us to pair geospatial (open) mapping and locally hosted CAD maps of the site. The difference is night and day in terms of the detail available and how easy it is to zoom in to investigate each event.

Prioritising data privacy

With such high visitor numbers, public privacy is a key priority for the Trafford Centre. Here, Lee and his team make use of dedicated functionality in their surveillance solution to help them manage sensitive data appropriately. 

From automating footage deletion in the evidence locker after a set period in compliance with GDPR, to digital masking of people and areas, Synergy supports and simplifies privacy protocols in many ways.

“We’re very aware of our responsibilities in this area”, comments Lee. “For example, our location means we back onto an Asda superstore and other Trafford Park facilities. Cameras on our roof monitoring outdoor areas of our estate pick up these locations, so we always ensure we mask those zones on screen.

Peace of mind performance

While all of these specific areas of functionality have helped the Trafford Centre in its mission to protect the public and facilities across the estate, for Lee, the biggest benefit of all is knowing he can rely on Synergy to deliver.

He concluded: “With Synergy, I have no headaches. Because I know everything works. I know we’ll always have footage availability – and if anything happens, we have an incredibly robust failover server. I know that the Synectics cameras give us the crystal-clear view we need daily, and that we have a system that will easily allow us to grow and adapt. From adding new cameras to making use of edge-based analytics in the future. There’s much to be said for having this kind of reliability at your fingertips.”