Crackdown on shop worker abuse can work, says Peterborough business group
Almost a fifth of shop workers were violently attacked in the last year
A group representing firms in Peterborough believes tougher measures to curb retail crime will help more shop workers feel safer at work.
More police on our streets and making assaults against retail staff a standalone offence are some of the plans that have been announced by Policing Minister Diana Johnson to protect workers.
It comes as figures from the Union of Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW) - released in its annual survey during this year’s Respect for Shop Workers Week - showed nearly a fifth of retail staff suffered a violent attack in the last year, up from 8% in 2022.
While nearly half of respondents said they were threatened by a customer.
Suzanna Austin's from the Federation of Small Businesses:
"Altogether it does seem to reflect a lot of the things our businesses are talking about, so it's good to see the policing minister take those forward and do something for our members who've been long saying about the large effect retail crime is having on them," she said.
"Hopefully by tackling this case and making it so that people can go to work safely that that is going to have a positive effect; what that positive effect is, is too early to tell."
From a survey of 5,500 retail staff in the last 12 months:
- 70% have experienced verbal abuse;
- 46% were threatened by a customer;
- 18% were assaulted;
- Abusers caught shoplifting regularly triggered violence and abuse.
Labour is looking to provide an extra 13,000 neighbourhood police and PCSOs into local communities to help what it says "restore guaranteed patrols in retail crime hotspots and mean shopkeepers and retail staff have a named officer to turn to when nuisance comes calling."
The Government will plan to make a reversal of the Conservatives’ Shoplifters’ Charter, introduced in 2014 where the theft of goods worth under £200 would not be routinely investigated by police.
It's also pledged to train police and retailers on retail crime tactics to stop offences before they happen, as well as invest an extra £5 million to crack down on organised shoplifting gangs.
Abuse has wider effect
Paddy Lillis, USDAW general secretary, said: "Having to deal with repeated and persistent offences can cause issues beyond the theft itself like anxiety, fear and physical harm to retail workers.
"It is our hope that these new measures will help give shop workers the respect they deserve.”
Ms Austin said abuse of retail staff has a wider impact, as well as on businesses.
"It becomes a problem about recruiting and retaining staff; retailers have a key part in a local community, so if retailers are shutting down and shoplifting and abuse of staff is becoming an out-of-control issue, it has a larger effect," she added.
"It's really important that these attacks are taken under control so when we're looking at how far they go, I think the flip side of that is how much damage these cause," she added.