A quarter of retail workers have been physically assaulted on the job as retail crime continues to worsen in the UK.
Close to half of retail staff (44 per cent) said they’re being abused or attacked every week, up 10 per cent year on year, according to a new report from the Retail Trust.
A separate YouGov poll for the Retail Trust found that a third of Brits have witnessed someone being rude or abusive towards a shop worker in the past year.
“What was once occasional frustration has become routine abuse,” Chris Brook-Carter, chief executive of the Retail Trust, said.
“We’re being contacted by people who are ignored, disrespected and shouted at every single day,” he added.
The problem is worsening despite ever-increasing spending on worker safety. Retailers spent £1.8bn last year, up 50 per cent from 2023, on a range of measures, including CCTV, security personnel, and body-worn cameras.
‘Nightmares, panic attacks, and flashbacks’
The rising abuse of retail workers is causing many to leave the sector, with nearly half looking to quit their job or the retail industry altogether.
“I’ve had nightmares, panic attacks, and flashbacks thanks to the abuse I’ve suffered,” Michael, a 25-year-old former store manager from Dundee, said. “I always wanted to work in retail, but I left the industry altogether in January due to the impact this was having on my mental health.”
“We had a lot of shoplifters in the area and whenever I tried to stop them, I’d be shouted at, spat at, punched and kicked. Other people would look down their noses and talk down to you simply because you worked in retail, so we were getting daily abuse from all sides,” he said.
The assault of shop workers is set to become a standalone offence with a maximum prison term of six months as part of the Crime and Policing Bill currently moving through Parliament, but experts say the core problem is public attitudes.
“Making the assault of a retail worker a specific offence will help the police deal with serious crimes, but it will do little to stop the rudeness, hostility and contempt that shop workers tell us they face during every shift,” Brook-Carter said.
Stephanie, who works for an independent retailer in Conwy, Wales, said that the issue has worsened as Brits get more used to shopping online.
Brits are the heaviest online shoppers in Europe, spending £1,993 per person every year – the third-highest figure globally, according to e-commerce firm MobiLoud.
“Expectations of how long it takes to shop in real life have gone out the window,” she said. “Particularly in the last year, it’s got really bad… it makes you feel like you’re not a person and that you’re absolutely nothing to them.”