The improvement reflected 13% of retailers rating the police response to incidents as good or excellent, up from 9% in last year’s report. Retailers had also spent more than £5 billion in the last five years on improved security measures, including CCTV and security staff. The upcoming Crime and Policing Bill, due to be debated in the House of Lords tomorrow, includes a standalone offence for assaulting a retail worker, removes the £200 threshold for “low-level” theft and introduces Respect Orders for offenders.
Theft remained a significant challenge, with 5.5 million detected incidents last year – costing retailers nearly £400 million. The BRC said many incidents went undetected and the true cost was likely to be much higher. It warned that organised criminal gangs were increasingly targeting high-value, easily resold goods, and exploiting a lack of consequences.
BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said: “Violence remains endemic. No-one should go to work fearing for their safety, and we must redouble our efforts to bring these numbers much further down once and for all. Theft remains a huge issue, with an increasingly concerning link to organised criminal gangs, who continue to systematically target one store after another, stealing tens of thousands of pounds worth of goods in one go. Retailers, the police and government must continue to work together, building on the great work done so far, focusing on consistent enforcement, better data and intelligence sharing, and targeted action against prolific offenders and organised gangs.”
Joanne Thomas, general secretary of shop workers union Usdaw, said: “The drop in violence and abuse is welcome news, but both Usdaw and BRC data show that retail workers continue to face unacceptable levels of violence and abuse simply as a result of going to work. The 5.5 million incidents of shop theft are in no way a victimless crime, with Usdaw evidence showing two-thirds of attacks on retail staff being triggered by theft or armed robbery. Having to deal with repeated and persistent offences can cause issues beyond the theft itself, like anxiety, fear and physical harm to retail workers.”
Notes for editors:
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is one of the fastest growing unions in the TUC and the UK's fifth biggest with around 370,000 members. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also represents many workers in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemical industry and other trades www.usdaw.org.uk
Usdaw’s annual survey of 9,481 retail staff found that in the last twelve months:
- 77% experienced verbal abuse.
- 53% were threatened by a customer.
- 10% were assaulted.
Full report: www.usdaw.org.uk/FFFReport2024
Crime and Policing Bill: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3938
Usdaw’s ‘Freedom from Fear’ campaign seeks to prevent violence, threats and abuse against workers by engaging the public, shop workers and the Government. www.usdaw.org.uk/Campaigns/Freedom-From-Fear
For Usdaw press releases visit: www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Bluesky @usdawunion.bsky.social and Twitter/X @UsdawUnion