Interviews

UK CCTV market growth forecast

by Mark Rowe

The recently introduced surveillance code of practice will have limited impact on growth of the UK market for CCTV, according to a new report from IHS Inc, a US-based market research company.

The United Kingdom is an important outlet for the vendors of video surveillance equipment, being the world’s fourth-largest regional market behind China, the United States and Japan, according to the IHS report titled “The World Market for CCTV and Video Surveillance Equipment.

The new code of practice offers guidelines for best practices in public area CCTV in England and Wales. However, no enforcement or penalties will be imposed for breaking the code.

Josh Woodhouse, surveillance market analyst for IHS, said: “Surveillance systems in public areas are estimated to account for only a small percentage of the UK’s cameras, with the vast majority installed on private property. Furthermore, the code of practice should entail little worry even for those equipment suppliers and installers working in public places. This is because they are already used to complying with far more stringent surveillance legislation in other countries.”

For example, some countries have stricter data protection rules, allowing a relatively short maximum length of time that video footage can be stored. Some countries also prescribe written warnings that must be displayed about the nature of video surveillance in that area.

A boom of installations in the late 1990s and at the beginning of the new millennium saw the number of CCTV cameras in the UK grow rapidly. Using its historical unit shipment data collected from suppliers of video surveillance equipment, modeling replacement rates and new installations, IHS estimates that the UK had four million CCTV cameras installed in 2012. This equates to one camera for every 16 people.

Despite enduring a tough time in the current economic climate, IHS forecasts that the UK market for video surveillance equipment will grow between 2013 and 2017. Some of this growth will be for new installations, but much of it will come from new systems replacing of existing ones that are aging.

Woodhouse added: “The new systems will offer improved image quality through such features as high-definition compliance, wide dynamic range, and day/night functionality. And in spite of the large number of systems already installed in the U.K., vendors should not ignore the opportunity this regional market continues to present.”

Pictured: CCTV at Coventry bus station.

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