BIRA boss fears festive increase as survey shows security costs hamper retailers
Indie greeting card and gift shops are among those which have become a “target choice” during the rise in retail crime, the British Independent Retailers’ Association’s latest report has revealed.
And indie stores’ inability to keep upgrading security due to the costs means BIRA ceo Andrew Goodacre is worried that “in the run-up to Christmas this is only going to get worse”.
The association surveyed members recently to discover how indie stores have been hit by the rising crimewave over the past year, and Andrew added: “Retail crime, such as theft and aggravated behaviour, seems to be reaching epidemic levels, but there does seem to be more of an organised element to it.
“While larger retailers have the budgets available to continuously improve their security measures this is not possible for the smaller retailer. Independents have therefore become even more of a target choice for criminals. and are left more vulnerable to being targeted.”
He said shop crime has not been a priority for the police and crime commissioners in recent years but demanded: “They need to sit up and listen. Our shop owners are hardworking yet are getting abused and stolen from almost on a daily basis. This isn’t a victimless crime, and livelihoods and our High Streets are at stake here.”
According to BIRA’s survey, items stolen from shops cover the whole independent offer – gift sets, children’s toys, books, fashion items and even balls of wool – and respondents highlighted the issue of multiple small thefts by various offenders, including school children, middle-aged women and older men, as well as gangs running into stores and carrying out the goods.
Half of thefts were of items costing up to £100, with 87% of incidents happening during opening hours whole only 3% were break-ins. The survey also showed that 7% of respondents had experienced cybercrime in the last 12 months through fraudulent transactions, goods purchased on stolen cards, and company credit cards being used.
One shopkeeper told BIRA: “Thieves do not fear being seen, challenged or caught, so feel quite at liberty to take larger items, up to around £200 each time.” Another noted that “they know the police will do nothing”.
PG Buzz featured Lark London co-owner Priya Aurora-Crowe last week explaining the issues she and husband Dom have been facing in their 22 stores: “They do it brazenly, in broad daylight, and even say things to the staff such as ‘see you later babes!’. We have CCTV in all our stores but, really, there’s nothing we can do to stop them.”
In September, police forces across England and Wales pledged to pursue every lead that holds a “reasonable chance of apprehending criminals and solving crimes” and said this back-to-basics approach would mark a significant milestone in addressing the rising concerns of retail crime, particularly theft and violence.
A letter organised by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) to home secretary Suella Braverman has 88 retailer signatures urging the government to create a standalone offence of assaulting or abusing a retail worker, and pushed for tougher sentences for offenders.
BIRA is also supporting The National Business Crime Centre (NBCC) with its Safer Business Action Week, starting on 17 October, where police forces and partners will work together on targeted operations in towns and city centres, running high-profile press and social media campaigns and engaging with local firms, retailers and the community to raise awareness of business crime in each area, including shoplifting.
