There is no magic number for CCTV, but there is a reliable way to work it out: count the things you need to see, not the walls you have. Most small business premises land somewhere between 4 and 16 cameras. This guide walks through how installers actually arrive at that figure, so you can budget sensibly before anyone quotes you.
When we survey a premises in Edinburgh or anywhere in the North of England, we begin by listing coverage points: every entrance and exit, the till or reception area, stock rooms, server or comms cabinets, delivery doors, car parks and any blind corners. Each point usually needs one camera, though a well placed wide angle dome can sometimes cover two.
A useful rule of thumb is one camera per external door, one per till or transaction point, one per high value storage area, and one or two for each open plan space larger than about 50 square metres. Add external coverage for approaches and parking and you quickly see why even a modest unit rarely needs fewer than four cameras.
Not every camera does the same job, and this affects how many you need. An identification camera must capture a recognisable face or number plate, which means it covers a narrow area, usually a doorway around 3 to 4 metres wide. An observation camera watching a warehouse floor can cover far more space but will not give you evidence quality footage of an individual.
Businesses often over rely on a few wide shots and then find the footage useless after an incident. It is better to pair a wide observation camera with a tight identification camera at each entrance than to add more wide shots. Camera resolution matters here too: a 4MP or 8MP camera can sometimes do both jobs in a smaller space, trimming one or two cameras off the total.
External coverage is where counts creep up. A yard, loading bay or staff car park usually needs two to four cameras to avoid blind spots, and anything gated benefits from a dedicated number plate camera at the entrance. On exposed sites, which is most of them between the Central Belt and the North of England, choose housings rated IP66 or better and check the working temperature range, as cheap cameras fail early in coastal and highland conditions.
Night performance also affects quantity. Cameras with good infrared or low light sensors can cover darker areas that would otherwise need an extra unit or additional lighting. If an area is genuinely unlit, budget for either a light or a camera with longer range IR, roughly 30 metres on decent mid range kit.
For a professionally installed IP CCTV system with a network video recorder, most UK small businesses pay somewhere in the region of £150 to £400 per camera fitted, depending on cabling runs, camera specification and how accessible the building is. A typical 6 camera shop system therefore often lands between £1,200 and £2,500, though every site differs, so treat these as ballpark figures rather than a quote.
The most common mistakes we see are buying too many low resolution cameras instead of fewer good ones, ignoring cable routes until installation day, and forgetting the legal side. If your cameras capture staff, customers or a public footpath, you have obligations under UK GDPR: signage, a lawful purpose, sensible retention periods of around 30 days, and registration with the ICO, which currently costs from £40 a year for most small businesses.
Only if the shop is very small and you accept observation quality footage rather than identifiable faces. Even then, a second camera on the door facing incoming customers is worth having, as it captures the identification shot a single ceiling dome usually misses.
If you have a car park, yard, delivery door or stock stored externally, yes. Most break ins start outside, and external footage of the approach is often what police and insurers ask for first.
Sometimes, but insurers care more about coverage of key risk areas and reliable recording than raw camera count. Check your policy requirements before finalising the design, as some specify minimum retention periods or monitored systems.
Send Scott the details and we'll get a realistic price back to you, usually the same working day.
Tell us about the job. A photo of the cabinet or a rough cable count is plenty to get a price started.