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NFRN urges MPs to back latest Covid-19 shop protection campaign

The Federation of Independent Retailers (NFRN) is calling for MPs to support its latest poster campaign to protect shop workers, as Covid-19 restrictions tighten.

Launched last week, the campaign encourages customers across the UK and Ireland to ‘be kind, be patient and wear a face covering’ when inside their local shop.


NFRN National President Stuart Reddish has written to all MPs asking them to raise awareness of the campaign by displaying the posters and promoting them on social media.

This latest drive is an extension of the NFRN’s highly successful Shop Local, Shop Little poster initiative, launched earlier this year, to remind customers to shop sensibly and that local stores could provide for all their needs.

Shop Local, Shop Little advertisements were seen by millions of people across the UK and Ireland as MPs, national newspapers and magazines backed the NFRN’s campaign.

Mr Reddish said: “Independent retailers have gone out of their way to support their communities by ensuring a safe environment. In the main, customers have adhered to the guidelines but some members have experienced hostility and frustration and, sadly, in some instances have even been subject to abuse and threats.

“We hope that by seeing these new posters, customers will treat independent retailers and their staff with greater understanding and respect, which means protecting everyone’s health and safety – customers and those working in the shops – by covering their faces and maintaining social distancing at all times.

“This latest campaign has already received fantastic coverage in the national media, and we hope that MPs will help us get the message across to everyone in their constituencies.”

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Independent retailers are demanding tougher police action, more bobbies on the beat and harsher punishments as shoplifting levels reach an all-time high, a new survey reveals.

A whopping ninety-one per cent of respondents to a survey conducted by the Federation of Independent Retailers (the Fed) called for more police patrols on streets, while a similar number - 90 per cent - said that shoplifters should be handed harsher sentences.

Seven out of 10 respondents (72 per cent) said their stores had experienced shoplifting, break ins and damage to property, while they and their staff had been physically or verbally threatened.

Just under half of respondents (47 per cent) said they and their employees had been threatened or had suffered abuse and violence when asking for proof of age ahead of selling an age-restricted product.

Forty-four per cent reported that they and their staff had faced abuse or violence because they had refused to make a proxy sale – selling an age restricted product to a customer buying for a minor.

The results of the Fed’s survey came as new figures from the Office of National Statistics revealed that shoplifting was at a record high, with almost half a million offences recorded last year.

According to the ONS, 469,788 offences were logged by forces in the year to June 2024 – a 29 per cent increase on the previous 12 months.

The ONS added that this figure was the highest since records began – in March 2003.

“Inadequate responses from the police and a slap on the wrist for offenders means that shoplifting is soaring, and offenders are becoming more aggressive and brazen,” said Fed National President Mo Razzaq.

“From the responses we received, it is clear that real action is needed by police, by courts and by the government to stem the overwhelming tide of crime against retailers and their staff. Everyone deserves to feel safe at work and for their businesses to be protected against criminals.

“Fed members are also sending a clear message that one of the catalysts for verbal and physical abuse in stores is asking for proof of age before selling an age restricted product. If the government presses ahead with its plans to phase out smoking and vaping through a progressive ban to gradually end the sale of tobacco products across the country, independent retailers will be subject to even greater levels of violence, abuse and theft.”

Calling for action from the government and not just words, Mr Razzaq continued: “Without effective deterrent, criminals and opportunistic members of the public will continue to commit crimes.”

According to Ministry of Justice statistics, during the year to March 2024, 431 fines were handed out for retail theft under £100, while Home Office statistics for the same period show that 2,252 cautions were accepted for shoplifting.

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