'Greggs ditching self-service fridges in some stores to curb shoplifting is sad sign of times'

There is, however, one dark pattern of behaviour which has grown since the pandemic ended. There has been a sharp rise in reports of shoplifting since the Covid-19 pandemic, according to official figures. The number of shoplifting offences recorded by police in England and Wales in a year has passed half a million for the first time.

A total of 516,971 offences were logged by forces in 2024, up 20 per cent from 429,873 in 2023. The figure is the highest since current police recording practices began in the year to March 2003, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Tom Ironside from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said retail crime is continuing to “spiral out of control” with shop theft costing retailers more than £2.2 billion a year.

The director of business and regulation at the BRC said last month: “While retailers are spending £1.8 billion on anti-crime measures, thieves are becoming bolder and more aggressive, resulting in an increase in violence and abuse against staff. It is vital we see more police resource allocated to tackle this epidemic of crime.”

He added a survey by the BRC of major retailers showed there are more than 20 million incidents of shoplifting a year but many go unreported as shopkeepers “simply don’t have faith” that action will be taken by the police.

“While the ONS statistics show that shoplifting is at record levels, their figures severely underestimate the problem,” he said.

“Their figures are equivalent to less than two incidents per shop per year; if you ask most shopkeepers they’ll tell you they’re lucky if a day goes by without a shoplifting incident.”

In a sad sign of the times, Greggs has started placing sandwiches and drinks behind counters in some of its stores to fend off shoplifters. The bakery chain typically displays the items in self-service fridges, but has ditched this in at least five stores following a spate of thefts. A Greggs spokeswoman said it was one of a number of initiatives the company is trialling across a handful of shops which are exposed to higher levels of anti-social behaviour.

It follows reports in the Sun which indicated thieves were targeting some Greggs shops every 20 minutes. The business is trialling high-security doors, panic alarms, and a system that instantly shares shoplifter images with police. It has also introduced body-worn cameras for staff in some of its other stores. Policing minister Dame Diana Johnson said the Government “will not tolerate the criminality blighting our communities” and is putting almost 3,000 more bobbies on the beat in neighbourhood roles this year.

There is no hiding the grim fact that shoplifting – sometimes with the threat of violence – has become a daily headache for shopkeepers around Britain. It adds to the pressures on a retail sector which has already been squeezed so badly by global forces since the dawn of the decade.

Greg Wright is the deputy business editor of The Yorkshire Post