Preparing your business premises for the darker months
Review your closing routine
Shorter days mean staff often leave in the dark, and routines can slip. A clear closing procedure — who checks which doors, windows and shutters, and in what order — removes guesswork at the end of a long day.
Write it down and keep it simple. The best closing routine is the one that is actually followed every evening, including weekends and holidays.
Check what the dark hides
Walk around your premises at dusk. Rear yards, bin stores, side lanes and car parks can look very different after 4pm in a Scottish winter. Note where lighting has failed, where sightlines are blocked, and where someone could work unnoticed.
This is also a good moment to check that cameras still cover what they were installed to cover — hedges grow, stockpiles move, and views change.
Know what happens when the alarm sounds
An activation at 2am needs a plan, not a shrug. Who is called? Who attends? Who holds keys, and are those arrangements still current?
If the honest answer is that the same person always gets out of bed, it may be worth considering a formal keyholding and alarm response arrangement instead.