Violence and abuse against retail workers soared last year, with the latest figures from the British Retail Consortium’s (BRC) crime survey revealing that the number of incidents rose to 1,300 per day in 2022/23 from almost 870 per day the year before.
This rise comes despite retailers investing heavily in crime prevention, spending £1.2bn on measures such as CCTV, increased security personnel, and body worn cameras, up from £722m the previous year. The cost of theft to retailers went up to £1.8bn from £953m the previous year, meaning the total cost of crime to retailers stood at £3.3bn – double the previous year.
The BRC’s annual crime survey highlights the scale of violence and abuse faced by people working in retail. Incidents, which include racial abuse, sexual harassment, physical assault, and threats with weapons, are now on a par with the levels seen during the pandemic, when staff bore the brunt of some people’s frustration with Covid safety measures.
While the total number of incidents climbed, dissatisfaction with the police increased, with 60% of respondents describing the police response to incidents as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’.
Retailers are calling on the Government to introduce a standalone offence of assaulting, threatening, or abusing a retail worker. This would send a clear message that this behaviour will not be tolerated, making retail workers feel safer in the workplace. It would also mean the police have data that allows them to understand the scale of the issue, and to allocate sufficient resources to deal with it. This would ensure that retail workers have the same protection under the law as they do in Scotland, where a similar offence was introduced in 2021.
Paddy Lillis, General Secretary of Usdaw, says: “It is deeply disturbing that the level of incidents faced by retail workers is now higher than ever, according to the BRC annual crime survey. Violence and abuse are not an acceptable part of the job and too many shopworkers suffer all too often. This growing retail crime epidemic must be tackled and it is essential that the Government takes substantial action.
“The UK Government has repeatedly failed to act in the face of an epidemic of retail crime, rising theft from shops and assaults against retail workers. It is disappointing that they have no measures in their legislative programme to tackle this issue. We support Labour’s attempts to amend the Government’s Criminal Justice Bill, so that the law is strengthened to protect shopworkers from violence, threats and abuse.
“A protection of shopworkers law is also supported by the BRC and many other retailers. It already exists in Scotland and has secured over 500 convictions. We also welcome Labour’s commitments to 13,000 more neighbourhood police with guaranteed patrols in town centres, respect orders to ban repeat offenders and ending the £200 threshold for investigating and prosecuting shop theft. Labour is clearly offering the change our members need.”
