Criminals ‘systematically’ targeting UK shops, costing £400m last year, say retailers

A security guard at a supermarket in Winchester, Hampshire. Retailers said investment in more security staff had cut violence and abuse against retail workers. Photograph: Peter Titmuss/Alamy

Criminal gangs are “systematically” targeting shops, retailers have warned, with 5.5m incidents of shoplifting detected last year, costing the industry an estimated £400m.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has warned over “endemic” violence towards shop workers – who faced an average 36 incidents of violence involving a weapon every day last year – and said high levels of theft was causing “anxiety” among retail staff.