Interview with Christopher Dean, founder and owner of Brighton CCTV

Why CCTV? How did you get into the business?
It started during my time as Shift Manager at Dixons, Gatwick. Brian the engineer who managed the CCTV there, asked lots of questions and then he offered me the opportunity to spend some time with him on the job for a few days to get an idea of what was involved. I never really looked back after that. I worked for the company – based in Manchester – for 7 years.

So, how did Brighton CCTV come about?
I am a true Brightonian – born and bred and having spent a long time doing around 1000 miles a week from Manchester to London and most everywhere in between, I decided to set something up close to home. It was 2012 and I remember handing in my notice and then hearing on the radio that we were entering a double dip recession! I did wonder if I had done the right thing, but actually this ended up working in my favour. Money was tight and shops wanted to protect their assets. During recession people are more conscious of costs. CCTV can be a very economical way for peace of mind - £1500 upwards for a system.
 
How have things grown? What type of people and organisations do you work with?
I work with a chain of bakers, who when they approached us, were losing money out of their tills on a regular basis. We installed CCTV in their 14 shops and that stopped immediately. Within 5-10 years, their investment is repaid. I do think that the attitude towards CCTV has changed. It has received some good press and there is a focus on the safety element. The systems and technology has improved, the quality of the images is good quality and the cameras are small and discreet. 
 
We work with a very diverse range of customers, both commercial businesses such as the largest dentists in Worthing who have cameras in all of their rooms – designed to protect both dentists and patients, to the equine world, who want to monitor their most valuable asset – the horses, especially when they are in foal and giving birth. The remote access is perfect as they can monitor without being intrusive – these are lovely jobs – when you’re helping something special happen safely. We are increasingly working with domestic properties and private individuals who want to protect their property and assets. You can now view on a mobile phone or tablet too, making monitoring much easier.
 
Our ideal client is a small chain with multiple outlets, in Sussex.

How did you get involved with the i360?
I just approached them directly – Eleanor Harris, the CEO – to see if they would be interested in having a camera on the project while the build was going on. Seeing as it’s a pretty big development and potentially a new Brighton icon, I thought people would be interested in having a look. This seemed to the case as we worked with the Hilton Metropole who agreed to put the camera on their roof and the site we set up for people to view had 3000 hits in March. I think this is another good use of CCTV, providing insight to things happening in your city. You wouldn’t normally get to see behind the scenes like this. I really hope we can continue to work with the i360 – I’m looking forward to the lunch in June!
 
Where do you think it would be interesting to have cameras?
In Brighton, I think the Royal Pavilion would be good – such an integral part of the city’s history.
Elsewhere, I think it would be cool to have some around Australia – to watch a parts of the country that are virtually uninhabited by humans but include some of the world’s most unusual animals. In a complete contrast, Las Vegas would also provide some good viewing I think! I’m pretty sure they already have a fair few ‘fly on the wall’ cameras there already. I bet they capture some interesting stuff. We’re happy to stick with Brighton and Sussex for now!

Written by Fay MacDonald