The grocery chain Iceland is providing prospects who store a thief a £1 reward on their loyalty card.
The frozen meals specialist stated that anybody who spots a suspected shoplifter in its shops ought to inform the closest Iceland worker who will confirm the incident earlier than including the reward to the person’s loyalty card for speedy use.
Richard Walker, the manager chair of the family-owned group, informed Channel 5 Information that thefts value the retailer £20m and drained sources that might be spent on employees hours or decrease costs. “Some individuals see it as a victimless crime, it’s not,” he stated.
He stated retail crime was occurring proper throughout the UK and never simply in robust city areas: “The scourge of shoplifting on our excessive streets continues to plague the UK, and the issue is just worsening, with legal exercise spreading throughout, not simply large cities, however our market cities and villages too.
“With a purpose to fight any exercise in Iceland shops, we’re encouraging our loyal prospects to assist sound the alarm, and in the event that they do assist to catch a shoplifter, we’ll prime up their Bonus Card to spend in retailer.”
In April official figures confirmed that the variety of shoplifting offences recorded by police in England and Wales has risen to the highest level on record, passing half 1,000,000 offences in 2024.
Retailers say the figures from the Workplace for Nationwide Statistics “severely underestimate” the dimensions of the issue, which might quantity to solely two incidents for every store a yr.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has pointed to a rise in shoplifting by organised gangs stealing to order.
This week the policing minister, Dame Diana Johnson, warned the general public in opposition to confronting shoplifters and recommended that retailers shouldn’t show costly objects comparable to alcohol on the entrance of shops.
Her feedback adopted a declare by the Conservative police and crime commissioner for Thames Valley, Matthew Barber, that individuals had an obligation to face as much as shoplifters relatively than relying solely on cops.
Retailers say that outlets have been seen as a comfortable goal since a 2014 change in the law in England and Wales beneath which these stealing items price lower than £200 are often spared any jail time period.
after publication promotion
Massive chains have also been accused of contributing to the rise in crime by lowering employees numbers and utilizing extra self-service checkouts and handheld “scan and store” gadgets in shops to maintain prices down.
Nevertheless, companies say they’ve spent hundreds of thousands of kilos on enhancing safety lately, together with putting in facial recognition and AI-aided cameras.
The federal government has set out laws to assist sort out shoplifting, together with eradicating the £200 threshold for “low-level” theft.
The crime and policing invoice, which is working its means by parliament, may also introduce a stand-alone offence of assaulting a retail employee. The federal government has promised funds to sort out organised gangs concerned in store theft.
