Turning the tide on retail crime: new crime measures present hope for retailers, but a proactive multi-prong approach is critical
The British Retail Consortium’s latest survey describes retail crime “spiralling out of control” and reaching worrying record highs; a 440% increase in daily incidents since 2020 and a 50% rise in violence and abuse. This is not just a safety issue – the financial impact is significant: customer theft losses hit £2.2 billion despite retailers spending £1.8 billion on prevention.
A watershed moment?
More positively, a combination of government interventions, national and local partnerships and individual actions by retailers is starting to shift the narrative.
Critically, this week saw Labour’s Crime and Policing Bill put before parliament. This much-needed government intervention details over 50 measures to help tackle retail crime and anti-social behaviour with key measures including:
- a new offence of assaulting retail workers
- the removal of legislation that makes theft under £200 a summary-only offence, sending a clear message that any level of shop theft will be taken seriously
- the introduction of Respect Orders to ban repeat offenders from town centres and
- the promise of 13,000 additional neighbourhood police officers with a named officer for every community
I would like to see the assault offence extend to verbal assault (as in Scotland) and commitments to resource the Police and justice system but nonetheless this is a positive statement of intent and sends a clear message.
National Retail Crime Action Plan
This Plan commits the police to pursue all reasonable lines of inquiry to recover stolen goods and secure convictions if retailers submit CCTV footage and images of shoplifters. A response is also promised where violent crime is reported, or shoplifters detained. This requires a shift in mindset by retailers who have in swathes given up on reporting; “what’s the point?”. The point is now that the Police will be measured on their response, and we all know what happens when something gets measured.
Project Pegasus
A retail business and policing partnership aiming to “radically improve” how retailers share intelligence with policing, to better understand the tactics used by organised retail crime gangs and identify more offenders. 13 retailers have pledged to fund a new police team of specialist officers & analysts to work within policing in a structure called OPAL. A recent BBC report states nearly 100 arrests of organised gang members have been made already.
Local Initiatives
Over 250 local Business Crime Reduction Partnerships made up of local businesses, BIDS, Councils, and police, work together to reduce crime by a variety of means tailored to the local context. This includes funding street wardens and dedicated retail PCSOs, sharing CCTV footage and photos of offenders, and incident reports. They meet regularly and the power of collective action reaps results.
Influence your local Police and Crime Commissioner
BCRPs also provide a way for effective lobbying of your local Police and Crime Commissioner. PCCs set the agenda for local force priorities. Many PCC strategies don’t refer to Retail Crime. If you have stores in PCC areas that don’t, lobby to change that and use the BCRP if appropriate. The focus in the Crime and Policing Bill will also add power to your elbow.
Control what you can control
Frontline staff are key not only to customer service but revenue protection. It is essential that retailers train their employees how to respond effectively to crime, recognise potential threats and deploy de-escalation techniques. The National Business Crime Centre provides free resources. Provide encouragement to report crime to ensure the Police deliver on their side of the bargain. Critically, deliver wellbeing support when incidents do occur; the Retail Trust has great resources if you don’t have them in house.
Further, identify hotspot stores to target provision of physical security and bodycams which are a deterrent to many and increasingly will be if the Police use footage to target organised gangs.
While 2025 began with the retail crime stats reaching an all-time high, with the shifts in policy and approach taking place, retailers have reason to be hopeful that the tide may be on the turn.
Commentary: Nathan Peacey, Partner and head of the Retail & Consumer team at Foot Anstey LLP
