Christmas markets have become a popular way to begin the countdown to Christmas all over Europe and have grown in size and scope across the UK’s towns and cities.

Christmas markets have also become a useful way for local authorities to attract footfall in urban centres to help support both the daytime and night-time economies in the critical weeks leading up to Christmas.

But with the crowds and excitement of Christmas markets comes the threat of vehicle as a weapon attacks and vehicle incursions. The Christmas market in Berlin was the target for a vehicle as a weapon attack in December 2016 and, tragically, 12 people lost their lives, while a further 56 were seriously injured.

Our goal is to help organisers of Christmas markets mitigate the risk of vehicle as a weapon attacks and vehicle incursions with rated HVM solutions, while enabling them to ensure people can enjoy Christmas markets in a fun and festive environment.

Our turnkey capabilities for Christmas markets security includes threat, vulnerability and risk assessment (TVRA), including vehicles dynamics analysis, which enables us to recommend an HVM specification that is appropriate and proportionate for your Christmas market.

With a wide range of HVM partnership, we can recommend hostile vehicle mitigation solutions that are suited to your Christmas market, taking account of the layout and location of the event. Our HVM and event security experts will work with you to agree the most effective combination of HVM measures, aligned to your identified risk, operational requirements and budget.