Safety is big business. In Britain alone much more than £3 billion is spent each year on security products and services, ranging from perimeter control systems which permit only authorized personnel to pass through doors and gates, via foot patrols and CCTV surveillance cameras to merchandise protection systems, burglar alarms and anti automobile theft devices.

Protecting items in shops and stores has always been a challenging business simply because of the huge range of items involved. Books and records, sweaters and suits, toiletries, cameras, computers and lawnmowers – all have a tendency to ‘walk’ if not protected. But they vary enormously in size and shape and also the materials they’re made of, and this in itself created problems.

Now, however, the development of new safety technologies means that virtually anything could be tagged. Big, floppy items, for example coats and rugs, are often protected by big and extremely obvious two-piece plastic tags. The main part has a fixed steel pin which passes via the fabric and locks into a backing piece which can only be removed utilizing a unique detacher unit mounted on the sales counter. The other component from the system is the detector unit guarding the shop doorway.