Shoplifting has increased in Waitrose stores across the UK, with an MP claiming that organised gangs were “operating with impunity”, the BBC reports.
The premium supermarket’s owner John Lewis Partnership said that while it could not “speculate on the reasons”, it was seeing “rising numbers of shoplifting offences – often by organised gangs as well anti-social behaviour”.
While none of the retailer’s staff had been seriously injured, some “have been threatened with weapons”, with “clearly an emotional cost to them if they feel threatened at work”.
John Lewis Partnership’s director of security Lucy Brown told the BBC: “We’re seeing a real increase – some are one-off offenders but the majority are shoplifting on a regular basis, switching across all retailers.”
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The British Retail Consortium said retail thefts across the sector in England and Wales were up 26% in 2022.
Back in March, police forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland recorded almost 33,000 incidents of shoplifting. Data analysed by the BBC revealed shoplifting offences had now returned to pre-pandemic levels as the cost of living crisis rages on.
The BBC has contacted all the main supermarkets in the UK regarding extra security measures in place. And while some, including Waitrose, were unable to comment on matters of security, others suggested the measures are not being taken nationwide, but have been implemented at individual stores.
Conservative MP for Bracknell James Sunderland told the BBC: “Targeted shoplifting through organised retail crime is clearly on the rise.”
He said gangs appear to be “operating with impunity across the South East and there have been instances of violence to staff when they attempt to intervene, not just at Waitrose but all supermarkets.”
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