Retail crime wave grips UK as gangs target high street stores

Organised criminal gangs are increasingly targeting high street shops across the UK, contributing to millions of thefts and hundreds of millions of pounds in losses, according to new industry data.

The British Retail Consortium reported 5.5 million incidents of shoplifting detected last year, costing retailers an estimated £400 million.

The incidents recorded are the second highest on record, although the number of daily incidents has fallen from the previous year.

The findings come as parliament considers new legal measures aimed at strengthening protections for retail staff and tightening the response to theft.

Shoplifting at scale

Retailers say organised gangs are systematically moving from one store to another, stealing large volumes of goods in single incidents.

In some cases, tens of thousands of pounds worth of stock is taken at once.

The 5.5m recorded incidents cannot be directly compared with earlier years because the BRC has changed how it represents its data.

However, the organisation said the true number of offences and the overall financial cost could be higher than current estimates suggest.

Retail leaders describe theft as a persistent and growing operational challenge.

The scale of activity, combined with repeated targeting of stores, has increased pressure on staff and store management teams.

Violence remains high

The BRC’s annual survey found that violence and abuse against shop workers fell by a fifth to 1,600 incidents a day in the last financial year, down from 2,000 a day in 2023 to 2024.

Despite the decline, the figure remains the second-highest on record and more than three times the 455 incidents a day recorded before the Covid pandemic.

Physical assaults were unchanged at 118 incidents.

Workers also experienced an average of 36 incidents involving a weapon every day over the past year.

Police response ratings have improved slightly, with 13% of retailers describing it as good or excellent, compared with 9% a year earlier.

Retailers say they have invested heavily in additional security guards, facial recognition systems, and electronic security tags in an effort to deter crime and protect staff.

The shop workers’ union Usdaw said its own evidence indicates that two-thirds of attacks on retail employees are triggered by theft or armed robbery.

It added that repeated exposure to such incidents can cause anxiety among staff.

Legislative response

The data was released as the government advances measures under the Crime and policing bill.

The proposed legislation introduces a standalone offence for assaulting a retail worker and removes the £200 threshold for low-level theft, which currently carries a maximum six-month custodial sentence.

The bill is passing through parliament and is expected to take effect this spring.

Alongside the legal changes, the government has pledged £7 million over the next three years to support an increased response to retail crime.

This commitment forms part of a wider plan to strengthen local policing, including the recruitment of 13,000 additional neighbourhood and community support officers across England and Wales by 2029.

Retail representatives say consistent enforcement, improved intelligence sharing, and sustained police resourcing will be critical if the high street crime wave is to be brought under control.