Lincoln BIG is the first organisation nationally to have struck a deal which offers businesses a simple way of encouraging staff to "blow the whistle"  on their colleagues.

The Business Improvement Group has negotiated a superb offer with The Crimestoppers' Integrity Line, which means that staff can anonymously use this for FREE, to report wrongdoing at work.  This might  include theft, internal fraud, bullying, harassment, substance misuse, bribery or corruption. 

Normally this scheme would cost businesses £1,000, plus £1, for each employee every year - but it is being offered at no cost to members of the Lincoln BIG Security Group. All they need to do is register.

Lincoln BIG Operations Manager Mick Lake said: "Depending upon the nature of the business concerned, research reveals that about thirty to fifty-per cent of loss is down to wrongdoing by staff.

"This may involve cashiers under-ringing or voiding till transactions to allow an associate to obtain goods at reduced prices, but other more sophisticated scams operate across all sectors of the retail and leisure industries."

The Crimestoppers' Integrity Line is a service which offers people who want to report wrongdoing at work, total anonymity. 

Information can be passed on 24 hours-a-day, seven-days a week. 

Telephone calls are not traced or recorded. Workers also have the option of taking action by going online and visiting www.theiline.co.uk

A Crimestoppers' spokesman said: "In any organisation, staff are often reluctant to highlight wrongdoing and raise compliance issues, for fear that their identity and complaint will become known amongst colleagues.

"Internally-run reporting or whistleblowing lines can be mistrusted and inefficient. For these reasons, unethical and unlawful activity can go unchecked, undermining and destabilising a company or organisation."