Retail crime is at its highest level on record, according to latest figures released from the 2025 British Retail Crime Survey (link below);
British Retail Consortium’s (BRC) Annual Crime Survey
The survey reveals incidents of violence and abuse in 2023/24 climbed to over 2,000 per day, up from 1,300 the year before. This is more than three times what it was in 2020, when there were just 455 incidents a day. Incidents included racial or sexual abuse, physical assault or threats with weapons. There were 70 incidents per day which involved a weapon, more than double the previous year.
With the total number of incidents continuing to grow, and their nature becoming increasingly aggressive, satisfaction with the police remains low, with 61% of respondents describing the police response to incidents as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’. Of the remaining, 29% rated the response as ‘fair’, a further 6% said good, and 3% described it as ‘excellent’, the first time in five years that any retailers have rated it as such.
Theft also reached an all-time high with over 20 million incidents (over 55,000 per day) costing retailers £2.2 billion in 2023/24 (up from £1.8 billion the previous year). Many more incidents are linked to organised crime, with gangs systematically targeting stores across the country, stealing tens of thousands of pounds worth of goods and rotating around multiple stores.
The Labour Government has pledged to address the rise in retail crime through stronger measures to tackle shoplifting and anti-social behaviour, including removing the £200 threshold of ‘low level’ theft. They also announced in the King’s Speech they would introduce a standalone offence for assaulting a retail worker. Retailers will be looking closely at the details of the Crime and Policing Bill to ensure that its protections apply to all customer-facing retail workers, from those behind the till to delivery drivers.
Fog Bandit can help and reverse this upward trend in retail crime!
Fog Bandit is a proven 24/7 deterrent and defence mechanism against overnight burglaries and robberies at UK retail shops. Fog Bandit’s reliable and proven approach is already trusted by 1000’s of UK retailers shops, their staff and business stakeholders on a daily basis.
Rapidly removing the criminal’s access to assets and stops stock loss & damage to property.
Our aim is to communicate a clear deterrent message to the criminal fraternity. That targeting premises with a Fog Bandit system installed, is a fruitless exercise and heightens the likelihood of being caught.
Fog Bandit is used to protect counters, and cigarette gantry’s, and other high areas of risk in the retail sector.