BRC calls for “statutory offence” as retail crime continues to climb
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has today published its 2021 Retail Crime Survey revealing there were 455 incidents of violence or abuse against retail staff each day in 2019/20, up 7% from 2018/19.
The BRC is calling for a statutory offence for assaulting, threatening or abusing a retail worker, as findings also show that the total cost to retailers of crime and crime prevention was £2.5bn, an increase of 14% on the previous year (£2.2bn), while only 6% of incidents of violence or abuse result in prosecution.
The total cost of crime has soared over the last three years, from £0.7bn in 2016/17 to £1.3bn in 2019/20. The most significant part of that was customer theft, which cost companies £935m. This rise comes despite retailers continuing to spend record sums of £1.2 billion on crime prevention.
The Scottish Parliament has already taken decisive action to better protect retail workers through Daniel Johnson MSP’s Shopworker Protection Bill. It means retail staff are better protected in Dumfries than they are thirty miles south in Carlisle.
The BRC says similar legislation must be introduced in the rest of the UK and that a new statutory offence would toughen sentences for those who are violent or abusive towards shopworkers, deter future perpetrators, and ensure shopworkers feel safer at work. That’s combined with calls for police forces across the UK to prioritise retail crime and improve their response to incidents.
BRC CEO Helen Dickinson said: “Will retail workers in England and Wales ever receive the protection they deserve? Despite clear evidence showing the escalation of violence and abuse against retail workers, the government has time and time again chosen not to act.
“These are not mere statistics, those affected are our parents, our partners and our children, all who needlessly suffer, just for doing their job. Many incidents arise as staff carry out their legal duties, including age verification and, more recently, implementing Covid safety measures. And, despite retailers spending enormous sums on crime prevention, the situation is only getting worse. Scotland has sent a clear message that the rise in violence and abuse must end, and the rest of the UK must follow their lead.”
Iona Blake, security and incident manager at Boots UK, said the pandemic and the burden on staff to enforce restrictions had exacerbated the problem: “Frustrations and anxieties about Covid clearly became issues on the shop floor. We saw particular instances of abuse against East Asian staff members as a result of Covid, for example, with it fuelling that racial hate.”
Retailers said they also saw spitting used as a form of violence towards employees following the spread of the virus.
Image: PA Media
