The British Retail Consortium (BRC) and its members welcome the
government's introduction of a standalone offence for assaulting
a retail worker. For over five years the BRC, along with
retailers, other trade associations and unions, have campaigned
for a standalone offence for a retail worker, to create
transparency about the scale of the issue and to help police to
allocate resources to deal with it.
Responding to the announcement, Helen Dickinson OBE,
Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium, said:
“After relentless campaigning for a specific offence for
assaulting retail workers, the voices of the three million people
working in retail have finally been heard.
“The impact of retail violence has steadily worsened, with people
facing racial abuse, sexual harassment, threatening behaviour,
physical assault and threats with weapons, often linked to
organised crime. The BRC 2024 Annual Crime Survey showed record
levels of violence and abuse, with incidents soaring to over
1,300 per day last year, compared to 870 the year before.
“Victims are ordinary hardworking people - teenagers taking on
their first job, carers looking for part-time work, parents
working around childcare.
“This announcement sends a clear message that this abusive
behaviour will not be tolerated. It will improve the police
response, which has historically been poor, as police will now
have the necessary data to understand the scale of the problem
and allocate sufficient resource to address this issue.
“Retailers are playing their part, spending over £1bn last year
on crime prevention measures. Government has taken action, and it
is vital that the police use this new legislation to step up
their response to incidents. Together, we must stamp out this
scourge in crime that has been sweeping the nation and ensure
retail workers are given the vital protections they deserve.”
-ENDS-
Notes to editors:
-
BRC Crime Survey
- The BRC and its members have been campaigning to raise
awareness of this issue for many years and have worked with
parliamentarians to shape legislation that would offer better
protection in law for retail workers.
