Retail crime in the UK has reached unprecedented levels, with the British Retail Consortium's (BRC) latest Annual Crime Survey unveiling a grim portrait of escalating violence and theft.
Its findings, published on 30 January 2025, reveal that incidents of violence and abuse against retail staff surged to more than 2,000 per day in the fiscal year 2023/24, compared to 1,300 daily occurrences the previous year.
The rise represents a more-than-threefold spike from the 455 daily incidents recorded in 2020.
The nature of these confrontations includes a range of hostility, from racial or sexual abuse to physical altercations and threats involving weapons.
There were on average 70 weapon-related incidents each day - a twofold increase from the year before.
Amidst this surge in criminal activity, retailer satisfaction with law enforcement remains dismally low.
61% of respondents characterised the police response as either "poor" or "very poor". 29% deemed it "fair", while a mere 6% acknowledged it as "good" and 3% "excellent".
Theft within the retail sector also witnessed a historic peak, with more than 20 million reported incidents: an average of more than 55,000 per day.
These thefts inflicted a financial toll on retailers to the tune of £2.2bn ($2.7bn) in 2023/24, up from £1.8bn the preceding year.
The BRC states that a growing proportion of these thefts are attributable to organised crime syndicates systematically exploiting retail outlets nationwide, absconding with goods valued at tens of thousands of pounds and rotating their criminal focus across different stores.
Retail investment in preventive measures has also soared, with retailers allocating £1.8bn towards security enhancements, an increase from £1.2bn the previous year.
Upgrades include CCTV systems, additional security personnel, anti-theft mechanisms and body-worn cameras.
The aggregate cost of crime for retailers has risen to £4.2bn in 2023/24, up from £3.3bn in the previous fiscal year.
BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said: "Retail crime is spiralling out of control. People in retail have been spat on, racially abused and threatened with machetes. Every day this continues, criminals are getting bolder and more aggressive. We owe it to the three million hardworking people working in retail to bring the epidemic of crime to heel. No one should go to work in fear.
“With little faith in police attendance, it is no wonder criminals feel they have licence to steal, threaten, assault and abuse. Retailers are spending more than ever before, but they cannot prevent crime alone. We need the police to respond to and handle every reported incident appropriately. We look forward to seeing crucial legislation to protect retail workers being put in place later this year. Only if the industry, government and police work together, can we finally see this awful trend reverse.”
In December 2024, a dedicated unit within the British national policing framework Opal, the intelligence unit focused on serious and systematic acquisitive offending, achieved notable success in combating organised retail crime, resulting in 93 arrests.
