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9 Jan 2024

Canal boat record store Rubber Ducky Records is back on the water after it sank last April, ruining over 1,000 vinyl records and a stow of music equipment stored on...

9 Jan 2024

While mass-market players continue to dominate the UK retail industry, research by Geek Retreat shows that 15% of Brits have set up their own business in the past ten years, and of these,...

8 Jan 2024

The British Independent Retailers Association has said 2024 is anticipated to be a challenging period for shop keepers as economic challenges are still set to bite.

2 Jan 2024

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20 Dec 2023

The ActSmart office will be open as usual (9am-5pm) for the majority of the Christmas period, with some exceptions.

19 Dec 2023

Bira's CEO, Andrew Goodacre, took the spotlight on BBC Breakfast this week and later spoke with Nicky Campbell on BBC Radio 5 Live, shedding light on the rise in retail crime and shop theft,...

18 Dec 2023

Dress shop Pocket Watch & Petticoats in Trinity Street has been crowned the winner in Cambridge BID’s Christmas window competition.

18 Dec 2023

In the age of online shopping, the pursuit of the best deals during the festive season is increasingly common. However, as consumers flock to virtual marketplaces, cybercriminals are seizing the...

18 Dec 2023

Fresh evidence about the increasing problem of thefts from shops has been revealed amid a warning that organised shoplifting is now among the most common type of crimes against small firms.

18 Dec 2023

One of the North West’s oldest record shops has reopened after 14 months, creating a small museum to pay tribute to its long-standing musical connections with the city.

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Stats show independents are easier target for shoplifters

Posted on in Business News , Cycles News , Creative News, Outdoor News

Shoplifters are four times less likely to get caught when they target independent stores compared to larger ones, an investigation by Retail Express has found.

Analysis of more than 10,000 shoplifting cases from 21 police authorities showed only one in five independent convenience store shoplifters are ever identified by the police and just 6% are ever charged or convicted, compared to 15% in multiple-owned convenience stores.

Police officers and security experts told Retail Express that the gap was down to the quality of CCTV, staff awareness and reporting.

Retail security expert Darren Wood from international security consultants, Cundall, told Retail Express: "Chain retailers develop and implement a security culture within their businesses to ensure staff are more vigilant and aware of shoplifters within their stores. They also deploy extensive video surveillance solutions."

A retailer survey by Retail Express also uncovered that only two in five independent stores report every occurrence of shoplifting. Asked why this could be, Catch a Thief founder Farrah McNutt told Retail Express: "We always encourage retailers to report every crime, every time, but some think it's not worth their while.

"When they take the time to send over all the footage and all the information and still the suspect isn't identified, it can be really upsetting."

Even when a crime is reported, Retail Express found that in nearly 9% of cases, retailers refused to press charges or co-operate with the police.

For Manchester retailer Sunita Kanji, shoplifters are a "daily occurrence" in her Family Shopper store in Little Hulton. She said: "When we get the police involved it's very time consuming giving a statement and providing CCTV evidence, then nothing happens. It seems like it's irrelevant."

Even though the chances of prosecution are slim, the National Business Crime Centre said reporting every incident is the only way to make sure the police commit the right amount of resources to tackling shoplifting. It also recommended independent that independent retailers ensure CCTV footage is of a good quality and report incidents immediately to close the gap between independents and multiples.

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