Marks & Spencer has called for a stronger police response to retail crime, warning that abuse, violence and organised theft are becoming a routine part of life on Britain’s high streets.
The retailer has issued a stark warning over the rising scale and severity of retail crime, with retail director Thinus Keeve urging government and policing leaders to take tougher action.
In a blog post published ahead of the recent four-day bank holiday weekend, Keeve said crime was “chipping away confidence in our high streets” and claimed the situation being experienced by retailers was at odds with broader statistics suggesting overall crime is falling.
“Something none of us believe and very few people working in retail would see,” he said. “In fact, we see the absolute opposite in our high streets and in our stores, where our colleagues are on the receiving end of abuse and violence in their workplace every day. It is becoming more brazen, more organised and more aggressive.”
Keeve pointed to an estimated 5.5 million incidents of shoplifting across the UK last year, excluding what he described as the “vast number” that go unreported. He added that more than 1,600 retail workers are facing violence or abuse every day.
“This is not isolated,” he said. “It is systemic and it is getting worse, not better.”
His intervention came as parts of London saw disorder over the holiday weekend, with large groups of teenagers reportedly responding to TikTok and Snapchat “link-up” calls and swarming several high streets. A number of stores were targeted, including an M&S branch in Clapham.
Keeve said that in the past week alone M&S had seen “gangs forcing open locked cabinets and stripping shelves”, as well as “a large group of young people ransacking a store before assaulting a security guard, a colleague headbutted trying to defuse a situation and another hospitalised after having ammonia thrown in their face”.
He said such incidents were becoming routine because “it seems there are no consequences”.
The comments echo growing frustration across the retail sector, with business leaders repeatedly warning that police responses to shoplifting and associated violence are too slow, too inconsistent, or absent altogether.
Keeve said retailers including M&S had invested heavily in security measures, but argued that businesses could not solve the crisis alone.
“Investment alone is not enough and the level of crime we face in so many communities is not something retailers can solve alone,” he said. “We put in cameras, guards and systems, but it does not stop colleagues being abused or stores being damaged.”
He added: “Without a government seriously cracking down on crime and a Mayor [of London] that prioritises effective policing we are powerless. We need a stronger, faster and more consistent police response, using tools that already exist to target repeat offenders and crime hotspots. And we need far greater transparency on crime so the true scale and impact is understood and can be used to target resources.”
M&S CEO Stuart Machin has written to the Home Secretary, while Keeve has also written to London mayor Sadiq Khan calling for urgent action.
The intervention comes amid mounting concern over the changing nature of retail crime, with stores increasingly facing not just opportunistic theft but coordinated and confrontational incidents that are leaving staff fearful and, in some cases, seriously injured.
According to official data, more than 519,000 shoplifting offences were recorded in England and Wales in the year to September 2025, although retailers have long argued that the true figure is far higher because so many incidents go unreported.
The British Retail Consortium has also repeatedly warned that organised retail crime is helping drive a wider rise in violence and abuse against shopworkers.
As pressure mounts on ministers, police forces and city leaders, M&S has made clear that, in its view, the current response is failing to match the scale of the problem.
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