Jason Wouhra, CEO of Lioncroft Wholesale and chairman of Unitas – the UK’s largest wholesale buying group – has urged independent retailers not to “suffer in silence”, as retail crime continues to escalate across the UK convenience sector.
In an open letter, Wouhra highlighted new data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales, which shows shop theft is rising at alarming levels.
He said figures from the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) reveal convenience stores recorded more than 6.2 million shoplifting incidents in the past year alone, at a cost of over £2.2 billion.
-
Related Story
-
“While some may view shoplifting as a victimless crime, we know this couldn’t be further from the truth,” Wouhra said.
“Not only does retail theft often lead to violence and abuse towards staff, but family-run businesses are already under immense pressure from rising costs. They simply cannot continue to absorb these losses.”
Wouhra, who is also chancellor of Aston University, pointed to recent improvements in West Midlands Police’s response model as an example of what can be achieved to tackle crime. He said the force has reported:
- A 60% rise in suspected shop theft arrests over the past two years.
- A 235% increase in offenders charged, cautioned, or given out-of-court resolutions.
- Significant improvements in response times, with 999 calls answered in an average of two seconds and 101 calls in 20 seconds.
Wouhra is now calling for similar approaches to be adopted nationwide and urged retailers to report every incident of retail crime, however small.
“Historically, retailers have not reported crimes because they lacked faith that action would be taken. But these results from the West Midlands show what is possible with a dedicated focus,” he said.
“We have to act together to drive real change and safeguard convenience stores for the future.”
Click here to sign up to Retail Gazette‘s free daily email newsletter
