THE Co-op has welcomed UK Government plans to crack down on retail crime – including shoplifting – following ‘out of control’ levels that led to the retailer utilising dummy packaging.
The supermarket invested £200 million in a range of measures last year to deter shoplifting, including GPS-tracked security cases and dummy packaging – which involved shoppers having to take empty shell cases to tills to be exchanged for the actual product.
Coming in response to a record year of crime, which included almost 1,000 instances of shoplifting and anti-social behaviour each day in Co-op stores from the start of 2023 until June of that year, the retailer warned at the time that dummy packaging will ‘only become a more prevalent and familiar sight’ in shops.
However, the UK Government has now announced plans to address retail crime – with perpetrators being sent to prison for up to six months, facing an unlimited fine, being banned from going back to the shop where the committed the crimes, and the assault of a retail worker being a standalone offence.
A specialist new police team has also been set up to build intelligence on organised retail crime gangs funded through Pegasus, a first-of-its-kind business and policing partnership backed by 14 of the UK’s biggest retailers, National Business Crime Solutions, and the Home Office. The initiative is hoped to ‘radically’ improve the way retailers are able to share intelligence with police to identify more offenders.
The news has been hailed as a victory for co-operation after Co-op member-owners and colleagues campaign since 2018, calling for change to ensure no shop worker should face violence or abuse as part of their job.
Shirine Khoury-Haq, chief executive of the Co-op, said, “This announcement will resonate with shop workers the length and breadth of the country. As a Co-op, we exist to make a genuine difference for our five million member owners and the issues they care about. This change shows the true power of co-operation, with our colleagues and Co-op member-owners having called for this urgent change to ensure no shop worker should face violence or abuse as part of their job.
“It will make a real difference to the lives of not only thousands of our Co-op colleagues, but also shop workers across the nation and it sends a strong and clear message to shop workers that they have been listened to, and a warning to criminals that their unacceptable behaviour will no longer be tolerated.”
