John Lewis boss Sharon White has expressed concerns for the safety of the Partnership’s store staff amid a rise of “organised gangs” targeting high-value items in their looting.
The chairwoman said criminals were being spurred on by the lack of police response, which has reduced the fear of punishment for the crime.
Speaking at a Policy Exchange think tank on Tuesday, she said: “It feels like in the last year we have moved from putting an extra six eggs in the shopping basket you haven’t paid for to organised gangs shoplifting to order in a way I find profoundly shocking.”
She said it is “not an exaggeration” to describe the current wave of shoplifting as an epidemic.
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The rise in shoplifting this year has cost John Lewis £12m more than last year.
White has joined fellow retail bosses in backing calls for tougher enforcement on shoplifting and calling for assault or abuse of a retail worker to be classified as an aggravated offence, which would require police to record all incidents of retail crime.
The chairwoman said she had yet to notice a “material impact on the ground” in response to retailers’ demands for an increased police response to shoplifting.
The lack of response has reduced the fear of punishment for criminals and signalled a “profound break in the social contract” to the public and business, she added.
Her comments come as the government launched a new Retail Crime Action Plan on Monday to combat shoplifting.
The plan sets out how police should respond to and investigate thefts against convenience stores and other retail businesses.
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