Ikea UK has partnered with retail crime intelligence company Auror to strengthen its in‑store safety and security amid rising retail crime.

Auror’s crime reporting platform has been rolled out to Ikea store teams at all 23 of the furniture retailer’s shop locations across the UK.

The platform allows staff to record instances of crime in a “consistent and secure way”. 

This gives the flatpack furniture giant the intelligence needed to “identify high-harm offenders, take action to protect their people, and collaborate with police to remove repeat offenders from their stores,” according to the business.

Ikea UK & Ireland safety and security leader Alan Cotton said “Violent behaviour in retail has reached a level where store teams deserve better tools to protect themselves and the people around them”. 

“Retail crime is a scale problem, which is very hard to overcome without technology.

“Auror gives retailers the intelligence to understand who poses a risk and make informed decisions before situations escalate.”

Auror VP UK & Ireland Mark Gleeson said that retailer data through Auror showed that the top 10 per cent of offenders were responsible for almost 70 per cent of retail crime across the UK.

He added: “What’s worse is that those repeat offenders are up to four times more likely to be violent or use a weapon.

“By building a collaborative network of retailers that are all committed to keeping stores safe, and focusing resources on the highest harm offenders in partnership with police across the UK, we can start to make an outsized impact on the problem and make high streets safer.”

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