Retailers urged to take a stand

The boss of Rutherglen’s shopping centre and the local MSP have thrown their weight behind a new campaign urging retailers to report retail crime and abuse of shop workers.

The ‘Don’t Put Up With It’ campaign, led by the Scottish Grocers’ Federation alongside Police Scotland, calls on retailers to take a zero-tolerance approach by reporting all offences against them and encourages customers to say thank you to their local shop workers for their services to the community.

A key issue around retail crime is that incidents often go unreported, leading to concerns that threatening or abusive behaviour goes unchallenged.

A new Bill passed in the Scottish Parliament in January aims to give greater protection in law to retail workers.

It introduces a new, specific criminal offences of assaulting, threatening, or abusing retail workers – particularly where they are providing goods or services that are age restricted.

Jane Cowan, manager of the Rutherglen Exchange Shopping Centre, said: “It’s shocking to hear the kind of abuse that some people in the retail sector have experienced.

“Over the past year, shop workers have been a vital part of the national response to the pandemic, and they deserve recognition and thanks.

“Nothing is more important to me than protecting our colleagues, shop staff and customers and as a community convenience retailer, Rutherglen Exchange strongly believe that staff should not be subjected to violence or anti-social behaviour when they are simply just doing their job.”

Rutherglen MSP Clare Haughey is urging retailers to report every crime that happens in and around their store.

She said: “That this campaign is needed is a sad indictment of the extent of the problem.

“We cannot allow these incidents to be in any way normalised.

“In order for the new specific criminal offences to be effective, we need to change the culture around reporting retail crime so that staff feel empowered to speak out and authorities are able to act.

“Threatening behaviour, abuse, and violence have no place in our society and no shop worker should accept it as part of the job.

“Retail staff have gone above and beyond in the last year in the most difficult circumstances.

“We should all be grateful for their efforts and the invaluable role they play in our Rutherglen and Cambuslang community.

“I fully support this Scottish Grocers’ Federation campaign. Any kind of abuse is unacceptable. Don’t put up with it. Report it.”