Retail staff suffered a huge rise in violence and abuse during the Covid pandemic despite most shops being closed long periods due to lockdown measures, according to a report by the British Retail Consortium (BRC).
A BRC survey found incidents of violence and abuse almost tripled between April 2020 and March 2021 from an average 455 a day to more than 1,300, 125 of them violent.
Yet the survey found 60% of retail respondents classed the police response to incidents as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’, with only 4% resulting in a prosecution – below the 6% recorded the previous year.
BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said: “It is shocking that this huge rise in incidents took place in a smaller pool of stores as much of the industry was in lockdown. Too many [retail staff] were met with hostility, abuse, threats and assault.”
The BRC Crime Survey was conducted among retailers employing more than 1.2 million staff, representing 42% of the UK retail market. The findings suggest more than 15% of the workforce suffered some form of harassment.
The survey did not include travel retailers, which are not represented by the BRC, but findings are unlikely to be exclusive to BRC members.
The rise in incidents was mainly due to an increase in abuse, with the BRC reporting: “Many incidents were related to staff trying to ensure a safe environment for customers and doing their best to ensure the law was observed.”
The survey recorded 155 incidents per 1,000 employees, up from 54 in 2019-20, of which 44 (28%) related to Covid – to spitting, coughing, social distancing or mask wearing.
The BRC noted: “With many stores closed, this would have been concentrated among far fewer staff and stores.”
Incidents increased in all locations – town centres and inner cities, shopping centres, retail parks and out-of-town shops. But incidents were particularly high in retail parks.
The BRC argued: “The dramatic rise in incidents must be a cause of alarm.
“Abuse is not victimless. It can take many forms ranging from racial or sexual abuse to an aggressive or abusive altercation. It would be unacceptable on the street and there is no reason for it to be acceptable in a store.
“Separate research by a number of retailers shows that even an apparently mild argument can have a significant emotional impact on staff members.”
The BRC has campaigned for violence and abuse towards retail workers to be recognised as a specific offence.
It commended the Scottish government and parliament for legislating to create a new offence of violence or abuse towards retail workers last year, and noted the UK government had – “after extensive lobbying” –amended the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill to recognise assaults against those “providing a public service” as an ‘aggravating factor’ in sentencing.
The BRC said it would work with police and crime commissioners to raise awareness of the new aggravated offence and to advocate for retail crime to have a higher priority in policing.
It called on retailers to ensure more incidents are reported, “so the police have a true picture of the violence and abuse faced by retail workers”.