// Violence and abuse against retail staff reaches “appalling levels” as number of incidents double
// Total cost of retail crimes reaches £1.76bn, data from BRC’s Crime Survey reveals
Retail staff face “appalling levels” of violence and abuse post-pandemic as the cost of crime reaches £1.76bn.
Over 850 incidents of racial, sexual and physical assault and threats with weapons have been recorded daily in the UK between 2021 and 2022, according to figures from the British Retail Consortium’s (BRC) latest Crime Survey.
This is more than double the number of attacks per day that happened between 2019 and 2020.
The latest figures reveal £953m was lost to customer theft – which equated to 8m incidents across the period.
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Retailers spent a total of £715m on crime prevention which, the BRC said, contributed to higher prices for customers by pushing up operating costs.
BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said: “The pandemic has normalised appalling levels of violent and abusive behaviour against retail workers.
“While a confrontation may be over in minutes, for many victims, their families and colleagues, the physical and emotional impact can last a lifetime.
“To make the UK a safer place to work the Home Office must improve its reporting around the amendment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act, and the police must prioritise adequately resourcing retail crime. Surely everyone deserves the right to go to work without fear.”
The “disturbing scale” of violence and abuse faced by retail employees saw 100 retail bosses write to 41 Police and Crime Commissioners in England and Wales urging them to commit to making retail crime a priority in local policing strategies.
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