Facewatch Appoints New CEO to Lead UK Facial Recognition Roll-Out

LONDON, June 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Businesses to lead way in fighting crime and improving public safety  

Facial recognition technology and a 'self-help' approach to crime prevention can save businesses millions and help to protect the public in commercially operated spaces, according to Nick Fisher, the newly appointed CEO of Facewatch.

With new investment following the completion of a successful fund raise, Facewatch is now poised to roll-out its secure cloud-based facial recognition system in retail and other business locations in the UK with Fisher - a former senior executive at Phones 4U and Dixons Retail - leading the strategy.

He said: "Businesses are continually fighting a losing battle against low-level crimes which police are hard-pressed to investigate and solve due to limited resources being needed for major crimes.

"Our work with businesses is showing that just 10 per cent of low-level crime is reported and only five per cent is solved, which means that businesses of all sizes are paying a high price for rising petty criminal activity, and there is growing apathy among victims.

"In a wider context, we are living with the threat of terrorist attacks, and so more locations where facial recognition is in operation can provide additional intelligence in support of our country's overall security ecosystem."

The solution, Fisher believes, is for businesses to be more proactive in deterring and preventing crime by utilising all the benefits of significant advances in technology, which Facewatch is ready to deliver.

"Businesses need to adopt a self-help approach with the right tools and support to make cost-effective changes and re-position how they protect their customers, employees and profits from crime," Fisher added.

Facewatch is a secure, cloud-based platform that enables businesses and police to capture and share CCTV evidence, offender images and intelligence with each other.

The technology makes it possible to capture and share algorithm versions of cropped facial images securely to the cloud, where they are analysed and compared to watch lists of known offenders and persons of interest within seconds.  When there is a match, an instant alert is sent back to the business.

Fisher, who was working as a business consultant to Facewatch prior to taking up the CEO role, has led the funding round to bring additional investment of £1.41 million into the business, bringing the total funding to date to £7 million.

The latest investment round will provide working capital to help fund the roll-out of facial recognition and other services in conjunction with strategic partners, including Stanley Security and NEC NeoFace Watch.

"After a short time looking at the business model, the relationships and the future strategy and market opportunity with developments such as facial recognition, accepting an invitation to lead Facewatch was a hugely exciting proposition for me," said Fisher.

Simon Gordon, founder and Chairman said: "I am delighted and proud that we have someone of Nick's calibre running Facewatch, with the team he brings with him, and am looking forward to supporting him as he takes Facewatch to the next and most exciting stage on our journey."

MEDIA CONTACT: 

Eric Woollard-White, eric@facewatch.co.uk