Keighley-based Keybury Security Systems has clinched a £200,000 plus contract to provide its Shop Alert early warning system for The Trafford Centre - a £600 million shopping, restaurant and entertainment complex being built on the outskirts of Manchester. Keybury will install the system in 255 retail outlets in the centre, which occupies a 150 acre site at Trafford Park, next to the new M60 orbital motorway.

The development, which will offer more than a million square feet of retail space as well as extensive restaurant and leisure facilities, will open in September. It will employ 7,000 staff and cater for an estimated 30 million visitors a year.

Developers The Trafford Centre Ltd specified a requirement for highly-monitored security systems within the complex, and Keybury won the contract with Shop Alert in the face of strong competition.

Shop Alert was first introduced in 1994 with the installation of a simple bomb warning system in Keighley's Airedale Shopping Centre. This specialist arm of the business has since grown significantly, and developed to counteract other problems faced by shopping centres, including shoplifting, counterfeit notes and stolen credit cards.

Shop Alert is a simple yet speedy security system which connects each retail outlet via a computer controlled keypad to a central security room. Messages can be passed quickly and discreetly from shop to security control, then to other outlets.

Keybury has already installed tailor-made systems at shopping centres in London and other major cities and towns across the country, and Shop Alert has won the firm two major awards.

Keybury director Frank Gee says: "The Trafford Centre is by far our biggest installation so far in terms of the number of retail outlets. We regard this prestigious contract as a major coup, as we continue to experience growing demand for Shop Alert from shopping centres across the country."

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