Young people fear working in retail because they are concerned about being attacked by thieves, according to an industry chief.
Britain is in the midst of a shoplifting epidemic with almost 800 crimes a day going unsolved, with one theft recorded every minute.
Shoplifting levels have doubled since the pandemic and rocketed by 20 per cent since the Government came into power last year.
The rise in shoplifting is costing the retail industry billions of pounds and violent thieves are making it harder for shops to hire and retain staff.
Jonathan James, who owns the Select Convenience brand, which operates around 40 supermarkets and stores, said it was having a negative impact on recruitment, with young people too scared to work as they worry they will be attacked by shoplifters.
The veteran retail figure also said he was organising shops around security measures rather than how to generate maximum income.
‘It’s just completely going unchecked and that is having an impact, obviously on morale, but it’s also having an impact on recruitment,’ he said.
‘People are just seeing in the local paper that the shops have been done and staff have been assaulted. It’s a hell of a job to recruit because they don’t want ot put themselves in harm’s way.
Young people fear working in retail because they are concerned about being attacked by thieves, according to an industry chief
Britain is in the midst of a shoplifting epidemic with almost 800 crimes a day going unsolved, with one theft recorded every minute
The rise in shoplifting is costing the retail industry billions of pounds and violent thieves are making it harder for shops to hire staff and retain staff
‘People are coming up to me and saying they would love to get into retail,’ he told The Telegraph. ‘But little Billy and Johnny, who are 18 and looking for their first job, their parents are worried [and saying], “Do you really want to do that?”‘
Retail crime has spiralled to an all-time high with violence and abuse towards workers jumping to 2,000 incidents a day, compared to 1,300 last year, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC).
They calculated retailers are losing £2.2billion a year, which ultimately comes out of customers’ pockets, adding around 6p to every store transaction.
Meanwhile, office for National Statistics (ONS) figures published in July showed that shoplifting hit a record high of 530,643 offences reported to police in the year to March, a 20 per cent increase on the last year’s total of 444,022.
That equates to more than 10,000 thefts a week, or 1,454 a day, which is the highest level since records began in 2003.
Shoplifting has become an increasing nightmare for High Street shops, with only a tiny minority of offenders ever charged.
The crisis is illustrated by sickening CCTV revealing thieves casually walking out of stores with armfuls of high-value goods.
Footage from a Waitrose store in London’s Notting Hill in July showed two men leaving with a stash of steak and salmon while staff watched on – forbidden from doing anything due to company policy.
Shops have been fighting back, with two brave security guards seen grappling with a shoplifter trying to steal bottles of fizzy drink from a Greggs in Hammersmith
Waitrose security officers and store workers watched on helplessly as their shelves were raided in July
But elsewhere, shops have been fighting back, with two brave security guards seen grappling with a shoplifter trying to steal bottles of fizzy drink from a Greggs in Hammersmith.
Footage filmed by the Daily Mail showed a young man being forced to drop the items on the floor before leaving in a strop.
The Government has promised to impose harsher punishments on shoplifters.
Legislation that made stealing foods under £200 a low-level offence has been scrapped, while ministers said they make assaulting a shop worker a standalone offence as well as investing £200m into neighbourhood policing.
