The Client:
Founded in 1813 as a linen shop, Harvey Nichols is an international luxury
lifestyle store, renowned both in the UK and internationally for its extensive
range of exclusive fashion merchandise. It houses many of the world's most
prestigious brands in womenswear, menswear, accessories, beauty, food, and home
accessories.
The original and flagship store is in Knightsbridge, London but it has now
expanded to other cities in the United Kingdom and, in September 2005, opened
the 32,000 square foot store in Dundrum, Dublin.
Harvey Nichols Dublin is the centrepiece of the Dundrum retail centre, just a
few miles South of Dublin's city centre. It has three floors filled with the top
names in beauty and fashion, plus Harvey Nichols' famous foodmarket and a deluxe
restaurant. It is now Dublin's hottest shopping destination.
As a business that sells such exclusive and high-value merchandise, the
company required a comprehensive CCTV management solution that would protect its
property, staff and premises and ultimately reduce shrinkage.
The Situation:
For Harvey Nichols, loss prevention is a high priority and whilst the primary
requirement is to protect the store’s merchandise - especially as some items
retail at £1.5m - the bespoke security system is also designed to protect the
store’s staff and buildings. The system specification included innovative
products with industry-leading features and demanded the highest quality. For
the owners it was imperative that CCTV images of evidential quality could be
captured and recorded to ensure a high conviction rate when needed. Also, with
ambient lighting being employed in the evening in certain departments, the
cameras installed had to provide the same high quality of image in low level
lighting conditions as they did in normal lighting conditions.
The recording solution needed to be easy to use with real-time recording so
that an immediate response to any incidents could be implemented. As with all
retail environments, floor space is very valuable and so the recording and
monitoring solution had to fit into a compact security office. Additionally, the
system had to integrate with a series of panic alarms positioned in specific
areas of the store.
Finally, it was important that the design of the CCTV domes and cameras
needed to complement and blend into the store’s contemporary design providing
effective but aesthetic monitoring.
The Solution:
Blue Rock Security Solutions was one of several companies invited to submit
proposals for a suitable and effective solution. Its first step was to undertake
a complete assessment of the requirements for Harvey Nichols, reviewing the site
itself and understanding how the company's requirements could be expected to
change over time as it continued to grow.
Blue Rock concluded that the best solution was to propose the installation of
a system from Honeywell Security, offering premier quality surveillance using
leading technologies from a single source. Brian Lenahan, Harvey Nichols’ Head
of Security Services comments, “The Blue Rock proposal was chosen as they
understood our needs precisely and offered such excellent personal service.”
A 32 camera system was installed using microspheres from the Honeywell
Orbiter range. This was connected via a MaxCom 32/8 matrix with images recorded
and stored on 2 x HRHD16 Digital Video Recorder (DVR). This has a built in
multiplexer that can record up to 16 cameras at the same time. This Honeywell
DVR was recommended because of its high quality performance, multi functionality
and ease of use. It was also recommended because it provides excellent picture
quality from the cameras. CCTV images can be quickly and easily transferred on
to CD, USB or separate hard drive.
Anthony Penny, Managing Director of Blue Rock Security Solutions comments,
“We recommended a security solution using video system products from Honeywell
Security because we were confident of the quality and service level that we
would receive. Together, this would meet and exceed the needs of Harvey Nichols.
The Orbiter range was the ideal choice as it combined industry-leading features
with state-of-the-art design. The addition of the ‘plug and play’
characteristics and its intrinsic reliability made it the obvious choice for
this project.”
As part of the security solution provided, Blue Rock’s ability to offer a
comprehensive, highly dependable and flexible service level was a key
requirement for Harvey Nichols. As an example, once the system was installed and
the store open, any on-site technical support had to accommodate the store’s
opening hours. Typically this would mean that on-site support had to be carried
out between 1am and 8am, when the store was closed.
In addition, in the unlikely event of any faults, Harvey Nichols was able to
benefit from the ‘Advance Replacement’ programme that Honeywell offers ensuring
that downtime was eliminated.
“We recommended a security solution using video system products from
Honeywell Security because we were confident of the quality and service level
that we would receive. Together, this would meet and exceed the needs of Harvey
Nichols.”
Anthony Penny,
Managing Director Blue Rock Security Solutions
The Benefits:
Honeywell solution
Using a solution from Honeywell, Harvey Nichols now has a
state-of-the-art security system ensuring the safety of its stock, staff and
premises. With high power cameras positioned all over the interior and exterior
of the stores, high quality images are being captured 24/7 that can be used as
evidence if required.
The result is that staff and customers feel safer, criminals are
deterred and the in-store security team can be confident that it has effective
security equipment with which to monitor the behaviour of its customers.
The Orbiter range of cameras offers the best surveillance for both
night and day. Full colour surveillance is provided during the day, with an
automatic changeover to mono at night when light levels are lower but the
quality of the image needs to be maintained. The easily set-up presets assist in
the establishment of a number of programmable camera ‘tours’ encompassing pan,
tilt and zoom sweeps of key areas within the store. Perfect picture quality is
achieved by advanced auto focus control to ensure that, no matter what the zoom
position, the picture is in the sharpest-possible focus.
Covering service vehicle delivery areas and surrounding streets,
Orbiter Microspheres have been deployed to maintain a watchful eye in these
areas too. The high power zoom capability of the domes positioned high up on the
outside of the building ensures that the vicinity around the store can also be
seen clearly to help prevent security breaches from occurring before any
suspected criminals reach the store. To increase the level of security of
the Harvey Nichols’ staff, the CCTV cameras are connected to panic alarm
buttons positioned discreetly in certain departments. Upon activation, pre-sets
are quickly retrieved by the Orbiter and the relevant images recorded.
And for the recording solution, the HRHD DVR is easy to operate
and offers real-time recording. If there is an incident, the images can be
checked within seconds to get information and evidence to pass on to the police.
All recorded information is downloaded once each month for archiving.
Reduced shrinkage
The security system installed not only acts as a deterrent but,
when needed to supply evidence in order to catch shoplifters, can do so
effectively with minimum delay.
Working in conjunction with the Garda, Ireland’s National Police
Service, Harvey Nichols is requested to maintain a ‘good’ level of recording and
keep all of the recorded video for a minimum of 28 days. The Honeywell HRHD 16
DVR used ensures that all recorded content can be retrieved easily and events
searched speedily. The CCTV images can quickly and easily be transferred on to
CD, USB or to a separate hard drive to be given to the police in relation to a
specific time and date.
The evidential quality of the CCTV images has really amazed the
Garda, leading to a high rate of convictions for shoplifters. In a recent
episode, Harvey Nichols experienced a loss of eight luxurious suits. The event
was easily retrieved by the Harvey Nichols security team and evidence provided
to the Garda within minutes to ensure arrests were made the same day.
Partner of Choice:
Part of the Blue Rock Group and established in 2004, Blue Rock
Security Solutions Ltd is one of Honeywell Security’s leading installation
partners and specialises in CCTV Systems and Access Control.
Blue Rock provides a full range of products and services tailored
to suit all applications. Excellence in service and support are the key elements
to its business and it offers a fully integrated package including Project
Management, Installation, Commissioning and Maintenance using its own engineers
and technical support staff.
Blue Rock prides itself in providing bespoke security solutions
for its customers and chose Honeywell Security as its partner of choice due to
Honeywell's ability to meet its requirements.
For further information about Blue Rock Security Solutions, please
visit www.brssuk.com
The Products:
- Orbiter Domes : H5MP27DPVC1-FS (Internal) and
H8EP27DPVC1-RWS (External)
- HRHD16C320X
- 6 x LCD Monitors
- MaxCom 32/8: VC-MAX0013-EU
- Systems Keyboard: HKJMMTP-EU
Harvey Nichols Case Study (PDF) | 
