Shoplifters working in organised groups targeting shops with co-ordinated raids
Posted on in Business News
A warning has been issued that shoplifters in the UK are becoming increasingly “emboldened” and appear to be often orchestrated by organised criminal groups, which steal to order, fuelling a growing black-market trade in various goods, including cheese and meat.
Bira, the British Independent Retailers Association, has expressed concern over the rise of these “grab-and-go” raids and their impact on businesses.
Bira chief executive Andrew Goodacre said: “In the past, shop theft has been dominated by people who have probably got unfortunately chaotic lives, some sort of dependency on drugs and alcohol, and shoplifting has been a way of sourcing that addiction.
“But what we’re seeing now is a more organised approach.
“Maybe it’s the cost-of-living crisis that has created a black market that has suddenly become more lucrative than it was previously.
“But there seems to be a more organised approach to some of the thefts that are taking place.”
He added that there appeared to be a thriving black market in even basic foodstuffs and retailers were being forced to tag such items, although this only alerted them to theft and did not necessarily prevent it happening.