New Home Secretary James Cleverly to face retailers fury over crime

New Home Secretary James Cleverly will find urgent demands for action on retail crime in his in-tray as he changes jobs.

This week the Manchester-based Co-operative Group, and other major retailers and unions, are urging the government and police chiefs to take retail crime far more seriously and urging the public to respect shopworkers in the face of a 25% rise in police recorded thefts.

Paul Gerrard, head of policy at the Co-operative, also pushed back on comments reported in TheBusinessDesk.com by Vaughan Allen, chief executive of Manchester’s Business Improvement District and city centre management company, CityCo about crime rates.

Allen cast doubt on claims by retailers that there is a surge in shoplifting by organised crime gangs. He has also been critical of retail businesses who are cutting back on staff and introducing self-service checkouts and remote security. “If you have fewer staff, no local security, no visible control, you are NOT protecting your store or your people,” he said.

But Gerrard told TheBusinessDesk.com that the Co-op has “changed the conversation” on retail crime and is determined to keep raising the issue of thefts with the new Home Secretary, which he said has cost the business £70m in lost product on top of a further £40m the business spends on additional security. 

“We have seen stores getting ransacked, with organised criminal gangs clearing shelves of high value items and threatening our colleagues with violence. This isn’t shoplifting, it’s looting.”

Referring specifically to Greater Manchester, he said he has been in contact with Greater Manchester Police and the Deputy Mayor for Policing Kate Green and has been reassured the force is taking the issue seriously.

Gerrard was speaking to TheBusinessDesk.com at the start of the annual Respect for Shopworkers Week which runs from 13-19 November, with member of the shop workers trade union Usdaw trumpeting their own year-round Freedom from Fear Campaign and talking to the public to promote a message of ‘respect for shopworkers’.

Usdaw is also campaigning for a standalone offence of assaulting or abusing shopworkers, which already exists in Scotland, something big retailers are also backing.

And Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said the government have “dithered” on the issue and said: “Usdaw’s annual survey highlights the shameful levels of abuse directed at our dedicated retail workers. Our own research shows more than 850 incidents of violence or abuse every single day. The victims are teenagers taking on their first job, carers looking for part-time work, parents working around childcare. While the violence can be over in a moment, the victims carry these experiences with them for a lifetime. And we all know the impact does not stop there – it affects their colleagues, friends, and the family our colleagues go home to.

“Retailer workers are suffering while Government dithers. We need a new statutory offence of assaulting, threatening, or abusing a retail worker. This would act as a deterrent and provide a clear message that Government will not tolerate this behaviour. It would also require police forces to record all incidents of retail crime, allowing for better allocation of resources to the issue. Parliament must send a clear signal that violence and abuse against retail workers will not be tolerated any longer.”

Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary said: “Last month’s downgrading of punishment for what they refer to as ‘low-level’ crimes only adds to the perception that theft from shops is not being taken seriously.”