Skip to content
Search
AI Powered
Latest Stories

Police 'not interested' in tackling shoplifting, says M&S chairman

Police 'not interested' in tackling shoplifting, says M&S chairman
Getty Images

The police are “not interested” in dealing with shoplifting, chairman of Marks & Spencer has claimed after figures showed the majority of store thefts in some crime hotspots were going unsolved.

Archie Norman said retailers were being forced to spend “a lot of money” on trying to keep crime rates down, including installing new camera systems and store detectives, The Telegraph reported.


Speaking on LBC’s Nick Ferrari at Breakfast, Norman said, “We get very little help from the police. I think we have to accept that the police are not interested in this sort of crime anymore. Whether we like it or not, that’s the way it has gone.”

Figures published last week suggested that just 3 per cent of shoplifting offences were being solved by police in some parts of the UK.

The first nationwide analysis of store thefts by area revealed that locations including Soho in London, Cardiff and Leeds were struggling with high crime rates. King Edward’s Parade in the centre of Eastbourne had the fewest thefts solved, with 97 per cent of cases having no outcome.

Norman noted there had been a surge in thefts since the pandemic, while the cost-of-living crisis had also fuelled other criminal activity.

He added, “When people are hard up, or particularly when there’s a growth in other forms of crime, particularly drugs-related crime, then one way of financing it is to go and steal from shops… it’s understandable given what we’ve been through in the last couple of years, we’ve seen more of that.”

Official figures show police logged 430,104 shoplifting offences last year, a rise of 37 per cent on the prior year and the highest level on record. On a nationwide level, the proportion of cases solved fell to 10.5 per cent from 15 per cent a year earlier as compared to 2016 when almost 28 per cent of shoplifting cases were solved.

Some retailers have resorted to giving shop floor workers body cameras in an attempt to deter criminals, while others have installed technology to monitor what customers are putting in their bags at self-service checkouts.

Recent research from industry body the British Retail Consortium (BRC) found that incidents of violence or abuse of shop workers had risen to 1,300 a day last year from 870, compared with a year earlier. The Government announced a crackdown on the epidemic within stores last month, which included making it an offence to assault a retail worker.

More for you

A woman enters the Selfridges department store

A woman enters the Selfridges department store on December 13, 2024 in London, England

Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images

Retail faces mixed fortunes in 2025 amid cost pressures, AI opportunities, and high street revival


The UK retail sector is bracing for a challenging but opportunity-filled 2025, according to Jacqui Baker, head of retail at RSM UK. While the industry grapples with rising costs and heightened crime, advancements in artificial intelligence and a revival of the high street offer potential pathways to growth, she said.

Keep ReadingShow less
unsafe soft drinks seized in Southend

Unsafe soft drinks seized in Southend

Photo: Southend-on-Sea City Council

1,100 unsafe soft drinks seized in Southend safety crackdown

Southend-on-Sea City Council officials have secured food condemnation orders from Chelmsford Magistrates Court, resulting in the seizure and destruction of 1,100 unauthorised soft drinks.

The condemned drinks, including Mountain Dew, 7-UP, Mirinda, and G Fuel energy drinks, were found during routine inspections of food businesses across Southend by the council’s environmental health officers.

Keep ReadingShow less
Charity Super.Mkt at Brent Cross Shopping centre in north London

A customer browses clothes inside Charity Super.Mkt at Brent Cross Shopping centre in north London on, December 17, 2024

Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images

Brits kindle Christmas spirit with second-hand gifts

Bursting with customers one afternoon the week before Christmas, a second-hand charity shop in London's Marylebone High Street looked even busier than the upscale retailers surrounding it.

One man grabbed two puzzle sets and a giant plush toy as a present for friends, another picked out a notebook for his wife.

Keep ReadingShow less
Nothing is more important than your Mental Elf

Nothing is more important than your Mental Elf

Lancashire Mind’s 11th Mental Elf fun run was its biggest and best yet – a sell-out event with more than 400 people running and walking in aid of the mental charity, plus dozens more volunteering to make the day a huge success.

The winter sun shone on Worden Park in Leyland as families gathered for either a 5K course, a 2K run, or a Challenge Yours’Elf distance which saw many people running 10K with the usual running gear replaced with jazzy elf leggings, tinsel and Christmas hats.

Keep ReadingShow less
A woman walks past a window display promoting an ongoing sale

A woman walks past a window display promoting an ongoing sale, on December 13, 2024 in London, England.

Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images

Retail sales disappoint before Christmas

UK retail sales rose less than expected in the runup to Christmas, according to official data Friday that deals a fresh blow to government hopes of growing the economy.

Separate figures revealed a temporary reprieve for prime minister Keir Starmer, however, as public borrowing fell sharply in November.

Keep ReadingShow less