Commercial CCTV Installation in Sussex
Cameras that cover the till, the stock room, the yard and the door. Recorded on your premises, watched from your phone, and set up so the data protection side is done properly. Shops, salons, cafés, workshops, farms and offices across West and East Sussex.
A commercial CCTV system for a small business is a set of wired 4K cameras recording to a recorder on your premises, with live and recorded footage on your phone and clips kept for 31 days. For a typical shop, four cameras installed cost £1,200 to £2,000; eight cameras £2,500 to £4,000. No monthly fee unless you want a monitoring centre watching too.
We survey first, quote a fixed price, and leave you with the signage, the retention setting and a one-page note on your UK GDPR duties, so the system protects you rather than becoming a liability. Every commercial CCTV installation carries a 2-year labour warranty.
Built for a Working Business
Home kit falls over in a shop: too many people, too much movement, the wrong places. Commercial systems are specified differently.
4K Cameras That Identify, Not Just Show
Faces at the counter and plates at the gate, in colour at night. Person and vehicle detection so the alert at 2am is a person in the yard, not a fox.
Recorded On Site, 31 Days
A recorder in a locked cupboard with a surveillance-grade drive, set to the retention period you choose. No cloud fee, no footage leaving the building unless you export it.
Your Phone, Your Manager's Phone
Live view and playback from anywhere, with separate logins so staff see what they need and nothing more. Export a clip for the police or your insurer in minutes.
Number Plates at the Gate
ANPR cameras for yards, car parks and farm entrances log every plate in and out, and can open a barrier for the vans you know.
UK GDPR Handled
Signage before the door, a written retention setting, no cameras where they must not be, and a one-page note for your records. The rules are below, in plain English.
Wired, Because It Has to Work
Every camera on its own cable with power over Ethernet. No batteries to charge, no WiFi dropouts at the worst moment, and the same cabling carries your business WiFi if you want it.
Premises We Know
Shops & Cafés
Till, entrance, stock room and the pavement outside. Enough detail to identify a face at the counter, and a clip export that a shoplifting report needs.
Salons, Clinics & Studios
Reception, retail shelves and the back door. Never treatment rooms or changing areas. Discreet cameras that suit a room customers are meant to relax in.
Workshops & Yards
Tool stores, vans and the gate. ANPR on the entrance, after-hours alerts to your phone, and lighting that comes on when a person is detected.
Farms & Rural Premises
Long cable runs, barns without power, and gateways half a mile from the house. Point-to-point wireless links and solar or 4G cameras where cable cannot go.
Holiday Lets & HMOs
External and communal areas only, with signage guests see before they arrive. Evidence for damage claims without ever filming inside a let.
Offices & Units
Entrances, server room door and car park. Multi-user access so the office manager and the owner both have eyes on it without sharing a login.
Commercial CCTV Prices
Guide prices for cameras, recorder, cabling and our time. The survey fixes the figure; the quote does not move after that.
Small Shop
- 4 x 4K cameras, colour at night
- 8-channel recorder, 31-day retention
- Phone app, two logins
- Signage and GDPR note
- Person and vehicle detection
- 2-year labour warranty
Retail or Workshop
- 8 x 4K cameras inside and out
- 16-channel recorder, 31 to 60 days
- Multi-user access with permissions
- ANPR option on the entrance
- Remote health monitoring by us
- 2-year labour warranty
Larger or Multi-Site
- 12 or more cameras
- ANPR and barrier control
- Point-to-point links to outbuildings
- Several sites in one app
- Annual maintenance visit
- 2-year labour warranty
Add roughly £300 to £600 per extra camera, £400 to £900 per ANPR camera, and £20 to £40 a month if you want an alarm receiving centre to watch overnight. Prices exclude VAT where it applies to your business.
What UK Law Expects of a Business With CCTV
Footage of people who can be recognised is personal data, so UK GDPR applies the moment a camera covers a customer, a member of staff or the pavement. None of it is difficult, and we set most of it up as part of the installation.
- Pay the ICO data protection fee. Most businesses running CCTV must register with the Information Commissioner's Office and pay an annual fee; the smallest tier was £52 a year at the time of writing. Check the current figure and the exemptions on ico.org.uk.
- Put signs up before people enter the covered area. They must say CCTV is in operation, who runs it and how to contact you. We supply and fit them.
- Keep footage only as long as you need it. 31 days is the common default. We set the recorder to overwrite on that schedule and write it down for you.
- Never film toilets, changing rooms or staff rest areas. Treatment rooms in a salon or clinic are off limits too.
- Tell your staff in writing what the cameras are for and where they are. Covert recording of staff is almost never lawful for a small business.
- Leave audio off unless you can justify it. Cameras can record sound; in a shop or office that is very hard to defend.
- Answer a subject access request within one month. Anyone filmed can ask for their footage. A recorder with a clear timeline makes this a ten-minute job.
- Secure the recorder. Locked cupboard, strong unique password, remote access only through the maker's app, not an open port on your router.
Your insurer may ask for recorded CCTV covering the entrance, the till and stock, kept for at least 30 days, sometimes alongside an intruder alarm to a named standard. Read the policy wording before the survey and bring it with you; it changes where cameras go and what the recorder is set to.
We cover all of this in more depth, with the costs, in our guide to commercial CCTV for a small business.
Business CCTV Guides
Commercial CCTV for a Small Business
Costs, the rules, and what your insurer wants.
PricingCCTV Installation Cost UK
What drives the price and where to save.
ExplainerPlanning Permission and CCTV
What you can film, and the rules on neighbours and the street.
TroubleshootingHikvision CCTV Not Working?
Hik-Connect offline, no video and HDD errors, fixed.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does commercial CCTV cost for a small business?
A four-camera 4K system with a recorder, installed in a small shop, is usually £1,200 to £2,000. Eight cameras for a larger shop or workshop are £2,500 to £4,000, and each camera beyond that adds roughly £300 to £600. There is no monthly fee unless you add a monitoring centre.
Do I need to register with the ICO to have CCTV at my business?
Almost certainly yes. A business that records identifiable people is processing personal data and must pay the ICO's annual data protection fee unless it meets a narrow exemption. The smallest tier was £52 a year at the time of writing. The ICO's online self-assessment takes about five minutes.
How long can a business keep CCTV footage?
Only as long as you need it for the reason you collected it. 31 days is the common default and most recorders overwrite automatically on that schedule. Keep a specific clip longer only if it is evidence for a police report, an insurance claim or a dispute, and note why.
Can I use CCTV to watch my staff?
You can record areas staff work in for security and safety as long as you tell them in writing what the cameras are for and where they are, and you never cover toilets, changing or rest areas. Using the footage to monitor performance, or recording covertly, needs a much stronger justification and is rarely lawful for a small business.
Protect the Business You Built
Book a free site survey. We will walk the premises with you, say where cameras earn their place, and quote a fixed price with the paperwork included.