Rethinking retail security in Britain: issues and insights for policymakers

The problem of retail crime in Britain has continued to pose serious concerns for businesses across the spectrum. From corner shops to major chains like Tesco and Sainsbury's, staff have continued to face various threats of abuse ranging from verbal abuse and physical assaults, (British Retail Consortium 2023; Taylor 2022; Shea, 2024). Major retailers are also reporting financial losses from theft, damage, and security measures which is becoming a huge concern for business sustainability. In an attempt to respond to this growing concern, the Retail Crime Action Plan (RCAP) was introduced in October 2023 to provide solution to this crises, however, this implementation success appears limited. Thus, this paper sets to examine the current state of retail crime in Britain. It will explore the challenges affecting policy interventions, the current state of the criminal justice system in Britain as well as factors that might be blocking intervention. Centrally, some attempts will be made to present alternative prevention frameworks so as to compliment the current RCAP's scope. While the RCAP represents progress, this paper draws on Brantingham & Faust's (1976) prevention models and Young's (1999) work on relative deprivation to provide alternative frameworks and arguments capable of tackling retail crime in Britain. As a concluding remark, the paper offers some policy recommendations regarding operations like Operation Pegasus within RCAP and the need to rethink society’s role in contributing to the fight against retail crime in Britain.