Business robberies on rise, says report

Criminals are increasingly targeting businesses over personal properties yet only about one in ten cases resulted in charges, with nearly half of the investigations being closed without police identifying a suspect, show recent data.

According to Office for National Statistics data cited by The Times, robbery of a business property rose by 52 per cent in the year to June 2024 - rising from 7,884 to 12,000, amounting to 33 recorded every day.

The figures suggest that criminals are increasingly targeting businesses over personal properties, the numbers for which remained relatively stable over the same period. There were 69,931 personal property robberies recorded compared to 69,222 in the previous 12 months, a 1 per cent increase.

The figures come on the back of a record high in shoplifting, with a total of 469,788 events recorded in the year to June, a 29 per cent increase on the previous year.

The Office for National Statistics said there had been a “notable increase” in the number of robberies involving a knife, which rose by 11 per cent during the same period.

Dame Diana Johnson, the policing minister, said that the government will also clamp down on property robbery by introducing a standalone offence of assaulting a shop worker.

The government’s Policing and Crime bill, which is expected to be introduced to parliament in the spring, will attempt to ensure that the police treat shoplifting offences more seriously by scrapping a rule introduced in 2014 that enabled forces to treat thefts of goods valued at under £200 less seriously by making it a summary-only offence.

Johnson said, “Under the last Conservative government, robbery of business property and shoplifting rose to record high levels. It’s vital that businesses are protected, retail crime tackled and staff protected this festive period.

“This Labour government will deliver 13,000 extra neighbourhood police as part of our plan for change. We’ll tackle retail crime and assault of shop workers and scrap the Tory shoplifters’ charter.

"This is a government committed to our mission for safer streets, for safer communities, and for a safer Britain, and we have a plan to get there.”