Jul 12, 2023
Organised shoplifting on the rise, says Waitrose
Waitrose has reported a rise in shoplifting in its stores across the UK, as an MP said organised gangs were "Operating with impunity". The John Lewis Partnership, which owns Waitrose, said that while it could not "Speculate on the reasons", it was seeing "Rising numbers of shoplifting offences - often by organised gangs as well anti-social behaviour". James Sunderland, Conservative MP for Bracknell, told the BBC: "Targeted shoplifting through organised retail crime is clearly on the rise."Gangs appear to be operating with impunity across the South East and there have been instances of violence to staff when they attempt to intervene, not just at Waitrose but all supermarkets. Lucy Brown, director of security for JLP, told the BBC: "We're seeing a real increase - some are one-off offenders but the majority are shoplifting on a regular basis, switching across all retailers. Speaking on BBC Radio 4's You and Yours programme, she said: "They will use major transport infrastructure to hit every retailer in a particular town or city or high street."We're also seeing a rise in organised crime with groups targeting stores - they want to take high volumes and high value in one hit.
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