Business & Technology
Facewatch launches crime platform with police alerts
SOFIAH NICHOLE SALIVIO
News Editor
Facewatch will launch a retail crime management platform this autumn that includes a real-time police alert feature for high-risk offenders entering shops. It describes the system as the first of its kind in the UK.
After testing with existing retail partners, the platform will combine live facial recognition, incident reporting, case management and evidence workflows for police use in a single system.
The new police alert function will send an instant notification when live facial recognition matches a person categorised as a serious offender as they enter a protected store. The aim is to let officers respond while an incident is taking place, rather than after a report has been filed.
The launch comes as retailers continue to report high levels of theft, abuse and violence against shop workers. Facewatch linked it to changes under the Crime and Policing Act 2026, which introduced stronger protections for retail staff and removed the previous £200 threshold for low-value shop theft.
Originally founded as a digital reporting tool for businesses sending incident reports to police, Facewatch later shifted its focus to live facial recognition in retail settings. The latest launch brings those strands together, combining prevention, reporting and evidence handling in one product.
Its network currently sends more than 50,000 positive alerts a month to thousands of stores across the UK when a known offender is detected on the premises, according to the company. Facewatch said the system generated more than 500,000 real-time alerts in 2025 and reached a record 55,462 positive alerts in May 2026.
Facewatch said its alerting process checks each match with two algorithms before a human verification stage, producing 99.98% operational accuracy before an alert is sent to a retailer. It added that the new police warning system would notify officers within an average of four seconds when the most serious offenders are identified on its network.
Police Response
Nick Fisher, Chief Executive Officer of Facewatch, said retailers had asked for a single system for shop floor staff, loss prevention teams and police forces.
“The Facewatch Crime Management Platform combines world-class algorithm accuracy with an easy-to-use reporting system, enabling retailers to record incidents, analyse data and generate evidence-led reports. Retailers have told us they want one trusted platform that supports shop floor colleagues, loss prevention teams and the police, and that’s what we’re building. To support the wider community and government fight against retail crime, the capability to alert police instantly when serious offenders trigger a live facial recognition match will take evidence-backed crime reporting to the next level,” Fisher said.
He said the system was intended to address repeat offending, which he described as a major driver of theft and violence in stores.
“The majority of retail crime is carried out by a minority of prolific repeat offenders, an increasing number of whom are using weapons to threaten shop workers. We’re calling time on prolific repeat offending with a unique technical development that will warn police within an average of four seconds the moment the worst offenders are matched and flagged on our network,” Fisher said.
Data Control
A central part of Facewatch’s pitch to retailers is its role as data controller across its network. The company said this structure allows it to take responsibility for processing personal and special category biometric data, rather than leaving those obligations with individual retail customers.
The arrangement also allows the business to share alerts across its retailer network when it judges that sharing to be proportionate. Facewatch argued that aggregated intelligence extends the system’s reach because offenders identified at one store can trigger warnings elsewhere in the network.
Fisher used the launch to warn retailers against taking direct responsibility for biometric data processing without fully assessing the legal and operational implications.
“Retailers should carefully assess the decision and risk of processing special category biometric data. The decision to do so means taking on serious legal liability, losing the benefit and protection of aggregated data intelligence, and managing complex data rights and obligations in-house. A software vendor may tell you these things aren’t important, but it’s not them that will have to deal with the fallout,” Fisher said.
He added that retailers acting as their own data controllers would receive fewer alerts than those connected to Facewatch’s wider network.
“Retailers who take on the role of data controller are significantly disadvantaged by missing out on more than half of all alerts generated as a result of incidents in other stores,” Fisher said.
Facewatch said it now works with more than 125 retailers operating thousands of stores in the UK. Its clients include national chains and independent businesses such as Budgens, Frasers Group, Flannels, Home Bargains, Sainsbury’s and Sports Direct, as well as garden centres and charity shops.
It also said it has formal data-sharing arrangements with police forces when supporting investigations. The new platform will sit within the company’s broader governance structure, which includes ISO/IEC 42001 certification for its artificial intelligence management system.
Vercel has signed a multi-year partnership with the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team, linking the technology company with one of Formula One’s most prominent teams.
Under the agreement, Vercel branding will appear on the team’s race cars, and the two organisations will work on digital experiences, customer engagement and content. The deal also includes plans to move Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS digital platforms to Vercel.
The partnership goes beyond branding and marketing into technical work on the team’s online presence. It covers global branding rights and hospitality, as well as product and platform development tied to fan, customer and partner interactions.
Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS has built one of the largest commercial and sporting profiles in Formula One, making team partnerships an attractive route for technology companies seeking global visibility. For Vercel, the tie-up places its name in a sport that has become a significant platform for business-to-business networking and international consumer marketing.
Digital focus
A central part of the agreement is the planned development of Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS’s digital platforms with Vercel. That points to a relationship aimed not only at sponsorship exposure, but also at practical involvement in how the team manages websites, digital products and online content.
Vercel is best known as the company behind Next.js, a web development framework widely used by software teams building websites and applications. In recent years, it has expanded its pitch around infrastructure for AI-related software and tools that developers use to build and deploy digital services.
That technical positioning helps explain why the partnership has been framed around speed, engineering and optimisation, themes closely associated with Formula One. Motorsport teams increasingly present themselves as technology businesses as well as sporting organisations, and commercial partnerships often reflect that blend.
Richard Sanders, Chief Commercial Officer of the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team, described the rationale for the deal in terms of shared priorities.
“Formula One is where every millisecond matters, every decision counts, and continuous innovation is fundamental to success. Vercel shares that same philosophy,” Sanders said.
“The Vercel platform is helping organizations around the world build faster, perform better, and innovate with confidence. We are excited to welcome Vercel to the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team and look forward to building a partnership that delivers value both on and off the track,” he added.
Commercial reach
The agreement reflects Formula One’s widening appeal to technology companies looking for both brand recognition and commercial access. Teams now sell sponsorship packages that combine logo placement, hospitality, customer events, executive access and collaborative technology projects.
For Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS, the deal adds another technology partner to a roster that has long included companies involved in software, data, engineering and communications. Such relationships can help teams support internal operations while also broadening sponsorship income.
For Vercel, the partnership offers a chance to present its products to business customers through a sport that increasingly attracts senior executives, software buyers and corporate partners. Formula One has become a venue where companies blend traditional sponsorship with business development and customer relationship activity.
Guillermo Rauch, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Vercel, drew a direct comparison between motorsport and software delivery.
“Speed wins. It’s true on the track, and it’s true on the web,” Rauch said.
“Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS is one of the fastest teams in world sport, and we’re proud to support a team that shares our obsession for engineering excellence and relentless optimization,” he added.
Rauch also gave a separate short statement as part of the announcement.
“If it’s fast, it’s on Vercel.”
Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS employs more than 2,000 people across its Brackley and Brixworth operations in the UK and remains one of the most successful teams of the modern Formula One era, having won eight consecutive Constructors’ Championships from 2014 to 2021.
Vercel says its platform is used by OpenAI, Ramp, Supreme and millions of developers, underscoring its ambition to be seen not only as a web infrastructure provider, but also as a company serving the growing market for AI-related software development.
The combination of visible car branding and back-end digital collaboration shows how Formula One sponsorships are evolving from straightforward advertising into broader technology and commercial agreements. In this case, the clearest operational element is the plan to develop the team’s digital platforms with Vercel.
Cotswolds Designer Outlet is marking its first anniversary by inviting anyone born between July 13 and July 19 of any year to visit the centre and collect a free birthday gift.
Adrian Field, centre manager at Cotswolds Designer Outlet, said: “We wanted to mark our first birthday in a way that felt fun, memorable and, most importantly, involved the community that has supported us throughout our first year.
“We know there must be hundreds of people across the region who share our birthday week, so we’re inviting them to come and celebrate with us.
“Whether you’re turning one or one hundred, we’d love to welcome you and help make your birthday even more special.”
Visitors are encouraged to bring ID such as a passport, driving licence, or birth certificate to claim their gift.
The birthday celebrations include lots of free activities, entertainment and exclusive anniversary offers from big-name brands and local favourites.
While supplies last, all ‘birthday twins’ will receive a free birthday gift to mark the occasion.
Further details about the anniversary events are available at cotswoldsdesigneroutlet.com.
Dutch coffee-making giants Jacobs Douwe Egberts announced last summer that it would be closing down its Banbury factory fully by the end of 2026.
While coffee production at Ruscote Avenue ended in 2023, the full closure process has been wrapping up, with the company paying redundant staff to volunteer at local charities in north Oxfordshire.
New public accounts for the coffeemaker has shown an operating profit increased by one per cent to £10.1m in 2025 (2024: £10.0m).
Jacobs Douwe Egberts has attributed this to lower distribution costs and administrative expenses.
Operating working capital has moved from -0.03 per cent to 0.17 per cent due to higher sales and changes to supplier payment terms.
The documents say: “The business remains committed to maintaining liquidity and effective cash management.”
READ MORE: Car boot sale to return after 20 years this weekend
Company director Rajat Chawla said: “The business is subject to a range of risks and uncertainties, including fluctuations in green coffee prices, changes in input costs, foreign exchange volatility, evolving competitive dynamics, technological developments, and demographic shifts in consumer behaviour.
“To mitigate these risks, the company closely monitors coffee prices, input costs, and exchange rates, benchmarking them regularly against external market data.
“Pricing strategies are reviewed and adjusted as necessary in response to material cost movements.”
He said that environmental regulations introduced last year, such as packaging taxes, will result in increased costs for the business in the future.
Banbury’s factory turned into a packaging-only facility back in 2023 when it stopped making coffee.
Jacobs Douwe Egberts’ ultimate parent company was bought by US giant Keurig Dr Pepper in the first half of 2026.
The factory was built by General Foods in the 1960s across 42 acres at a cost of £6m and employed 1,300 people.
In 1966, General Foods moved production of Bird’s Custard from the Custard Factory site in Birmingham to the new factory, along with the majority of its Brummie workers.
Jacobs Douwe Egberts has run the factory since 2015, after the business purchased the coffee side of Mondelez.
The closure serves as another blow for Banbury’s economy, which is also going to be hit by the expected closure of the HelloFresh distribution centre at Chalker Way.
HelloFresh said 271 people work at Banbury, but if the company closes it after a consultation, it’s expected jobs will be lost.
In a statement, the company said its distribution centre in Derby is now better equipped that Banbury.
A spokesman for HelloFresh said: “We have made the difficult decision to propose to close our Banbury site, subject to consultation.”
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