Independent retailers call for more action as shoplifting continues to soar
The Federation of Independent Retailers (the Fed) has repeated calls for government grants to boost security measures for smaller stores, following the news that incidents of shoplifting have increased yet again.
According to the latest figures released today (October 23) by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), police in England and Wales recorded a total of 529,994 cases of shoplifting in the year ending June 2025, an increase of 13 per cent.
There was also a five per cent increase in theft from the person (to 145,860 offences).
The ONS said there have been sharp rises in these offences since the pandemic.
The Fed’s national president Hetal Patel said: “While the numbers are shocking, they come as no surprise to independent retailers.
“We welcomed the Government’s summer blitz on town centre crime and the fact that it has pledged to put 3,000 new neighbourhood officers on the beat as part of its Plan for Change, but these numbers show more must be done.
“The introduction of a standalone offence for attacking shopworkers, which is currently making its way through parliament, is also a step in the right direction, as is the scrapping of the so called £200 threshold.
“However, for years we have called on the Government to provide grants for small retail business to help increase their security through improved CCTV. This would act as a deterrent to potential thieves and give store owners the ability to provide solid evidence to catch and punish the perpetrators.
“We also want the courts and law enforcement to work more effectively together to provide a robust judicial response to those who are charged and subsequently convicted.”
He added: “We hope that the latest disturbing statistics on shoplifting encourage the Government to provide the financial help that is urgently needed to tackle the surge in retail crime.”
Lucy Whing, Crime Policy Adviser at the British Retail Consortium, said: “Retail theft is a major issue for retailers, costing over £2.2 billion a year. While ONS figures do not reveal the true scale of the issue as it only tracks reported incidents, it chimes with our own statistics which show shoplifting soaring in recent years.
“The causes are manifold, but the rise in organised crime is a particular concern, with gangs systematically hitting stores one after another, all over the country.
“Theft is also a major trigger for violence and abuse against staff. Incidents of violence and abuse have risen to over 2,000 per day. These incidents are not restricted to those working in stores: new figures from Usdaw revealed that more than three quarters of delivery drivers have been a victim of abuse and over one in ten have been assaulted over the last 12 months.
“Fortunately, Government and police are committed to turning the tide on crime. We are edging closer to the implementation of the Crime and Policing Bill, which will soon go to the Committee Stage.
The Bill will remove the £200 threshold for ‘low level’ theft, which will send a clear signal that all shoplifting is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. It will also introduce a standalone offence for assaulting a retail worker, which will increase sentencing and improve the visibility of violence against retail workers so that police can allocate the necessary resources to tackle this challenge.
“We call on the Government to ensure that the final Act extends protections to include delivery drivers.”