Retail in crisis as violence and abuse of staff jumps 50pc in a year

Crime wave hits sector adding to the costs faced by stores and making it harder to retain workers

RETAIL industry bosses have warned of a spiralling crisis on shop floors after violence and abuse of workers surged by 50pc.

Shop staff faced 1,300 incidents of violence and abuse every day over the year to Aug 31 2023, figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) show, up from about 870 the previous year.

The astonishing total is equivalent to 54 incidents of violence or abuse towards retail staff across the country every hour, or almost one episode of aggression every minute of the day.

The new BRC report lays bare the crime wave sweeping the sector, with theft surging alongside abuse.

Paul Gerrard, a director at the Co-op, said staff were frequently targeted by criminals and had in some cases faced serious physical assaults.

Examples include workers being followed home from stores, as well as attacks with objects such as bottles and needles.

He added that female staff and employees from ethnic minority backgrounds were being targeted with misogynistic and racist abuse.

Mr Gerrard said: “I would suggest, if you are a woman in retail, if you are a person of colour in retail, you are likely to get misogyny and racism thrown at you on a regular basis.”

Assault and abuse directed at staff is now as common as it was in the peak of the pandemic, when frustration and anger at restrictions caused a steep jump in incidents.

As well as a surge in abuse, the cost of theft doubled to £1.8bn last year. It has almost trebled from the £502m lost to stealing in 2017.

There were about 45,000 incidents of shoplifting across Britain each day in 2023 on average, the BRC said.

The Co-op alone recorded more than 335,000 incidents of retail crime in its stores last year, equating to almost 1,000 incidents a day.

Doug Putman, the boss of HMV, said last year that his company was battling record levels of theft, while John Lewis chairman Dame Sharon White has branded shoplifting an “epidemic”.

The industry has little faith in the police to help. Some 60pc of respondents to a survey of BRC members said the police response to retail crimes was “poor” or “very poor”.

Mr Gerrard said: “To give you an example, three masked men break into a store, they’ve got weapons, they jump behind the kiosk and then proceed to take out the entire vapes, spirits, all the stuff that’s secure around the kiosk.

“Our store manager rings up the police and the police said [they’re] not going to get there in time so next time can you ring us on 101? But 101 is by definition a non-emergency line – this is for an armed robbery.” The Co-op said in November that police had failed to show up in about 75pc of cases.

The police put forward an action plan to deal with retail crime last October, which included prioritising attending crimes involving violence and where guards have detained a criminal.

Retailers have spent more than £1.2bn on new security measures, such as extra CCTV, undercover security staff, and body cameras, according to BRC figures.

As well as tougher action from the police, the industry is calling for ministers to do more to address the problem.

Retailers want assaulting a retail worker to be made a standalone offence, which they argue would help improve the quality of data available to police and encourage prosecutions.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC, said: “Part of the reason for calling for the standalone offence is to be able to track what is actually happening. Because the police aren’t looking at this specifically as a particular type of crime, they can’t tell where their own resources are or aren’t showing up.”

Businesses including the Co-op, John Lewis and Next have also signed up to a new initiative called Project Pegasus that they hope will improve the ability to identify and catch criminal gangs targeting retail.

A team will comb through CCTV footage to identify the worst offenders. The companies are investing hundreds of thousands of pounds in the scheme.

Simon Gregg, a senior vice-president at Asda, said: “It is vital that we work constructively with the police and other stakeholders to send a united message that it is unacceptable and offenders will face the full force of the law.”

Mr Gerrard warned that soaring crime rates could hinder the retail industry’s ability to hire staff, grow and contribute to the economy.

A report by the Retail Trust last year found 42pc of retail workers were considering quitting or leaving the industry, with 66pc saying incidents left them feeling stressed or anxious about going in to work.

Jason Tarry, the UK chief executive of Tesco, said: “Nobody should come to work afraid that they could face abuse simply for doing their job.”

Katy Bourne, lead for business crime at the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, said: “Every day, retail staff are facing the consequences of shoplifters’ brazen behaviour and that’s why I have supported the call for a specific offence of assault on a shop worker.

“Our courts need to work more efficiently, and shoplifters need to be deterred from re-offending.”

‘If you are a person of colour in retail you are likely to get racism thrown at you regularly’ ‘Nobody should come to work afraid they could face abuse simply for doing their job’