A trade body for small retail, the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) is calling on retailers to share their experiences of retail crime over the last 12 months as part of the association’s ‘Crime Survey 2018’.
The survey asks retailers to outline the number of incidents of crime they have experienced in their store, including shop theft, robberies and anti-social behavioural incidents. The survey also considers the causes of these crimes and the measures retailers have in place to prevent crime in their stores.
ACS Chief Executive James Lowman said: “Crime remains one of the biggest problems faced by local shops. Every week we hear about violence and threats to the safety of retailers and staff, theft that hits profits and drives some stores to the edge of viability, and robberies that bring massive losses and disruption.
“Our crime survey gives us powerful information to make the best case we can for retailers to get the support they need from government and the police. The results of the survey are shared directly with ministers and senior police officers and we need robust information to make the strongest case possible, so I urge every retailer to share their experiences of crime in their stores.”
The survey can be found here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/ACSCRIME2018. The deadline for responses is Thursday, December 21. The results will be feature in ACS’ Crime Report 2018, launched in March. The 2017 Crime Report can be downloaded at https://www.acs.org.uk/research/crime-report-2017.
Recently the ACS supported shop worker union Usdaw’s annual Respect for Shopworkers Week, on the importance of crimes against retailers being taken seriously by police. Interim results of the Usdaw’s 2017 survey, based on 1,455 responses, show that over the last 12 months: 62.34pc were verbally abused (an increase of a quarter), 40.49pc were threatened (another increase) and 3.23pc were assaulted (an increase of a quarter). Just over half, 56.11pc had not reported an incident of abuse and about one in five, 21.79pc of shopworkers physically attacked did not report the assault. About eight in ten, 79.91pc say there needs to be a change in the law to provide better protection for shopworkers. The final results of the 2017 survey will be published in early 2018.
John Hannett, Usdaw General Secretary, urged shopworkers not suffer in silence, saying abuse is not a part of the job and if they report it the union can help to sort it. He said: “The clear message from Respect for Shopworkers Week is that the Government needs to do more by properly funding the police and legislating for stiffer sentences for the thugs that assault shopworkers. Around 265 retail staff are violently attacked every day, with many more threatened and verbally abused, so it is time to say enough is enough.”
