Skip to content
Search
AI Powered
Latest Stories

#ShopKind Week: Retail industry comes together to call out violence and abuse in stores

#ShopKind Week: Retail industry comes together to call out violence and abuse in stores

Leading high street retailers, the Home Office and industry groups have come together to support #ShopKind Week, taking place on 6 – 10 May.

The #ShopKind campaign aims to remind customers about the importance of being considerate to shop workers and each other. UK-wide polling highlights that 31 per cent of customers are more anxious when they shop and 36 per cent of customers have witnessed violence and abuse towards shop worker while shopping.


The British Retail Consortium’s annual Crime Survey shows that there are over 1300 incidents of violence and abuse every day in the retail sector. Figures from the Association of Convenience Stores’ (ACS) annual Crime Report also show that almost 9 in 10 colleagues working in local shops have experienced verbal abuse over the last year.

The most frequently cited triggers in the ACS report were:

  • Encountering shop thieves
  • Asking customers to verify their age
  • Refusing to serve intoxicated customers

The #ShopKind campaign is backed by the Home Office and supported by over 100 leading high street retailers, the nation’s shopkeepers and trade union Usdaw.

Last month, the government announced that it would be introducing a separate offence for assaulting a retail worker, building on previous sentencing guidelines that made assaulting someone working in a store an aggravated offence.

This week (6-10 May) retailers are reminding customers to ShopKind in stores and acknowledge the important role of shopworkers to communities.

“Colleagues in shops are there to help and deserve to be treated with respect, and there is never a good excuse to be abusive towards them,” James Lowman, ACS chief executive, said.

“We’re pleased that there is such widespread continued support in the retail sector and from the Home Office for the Shopkind campaign, which we hope will urge frustrated shoppers to think twice before an incident escalates into abuse.”

dan shop kind

Paddy Lillis, Usdaw general secretary, said: “Retail staff are key workers delivering essential services in every community and we stand together to say that abuse should not be a part of their job. We need better co-ordination to ensure that retail employers, police and the courts work together to make stores safer and give staff the support and confidence they need to report incidents. We welcome Shopkind as a week of action and a great step towards that aim.”

Paul Gerrard, campaigns, public affairs and board secretariat director at Co-op, said: “Retail workers work hard to serve and support communities, and while the vast majority of shoppers appreciate the vital role they play, the ShopKind campaign sends a message to those who think it is OK to abuse and attack shopworkers, or carry out acts of anti-social behaviour, that it really is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. With new and returning Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) receiving fresh mandates through last week’s elections, PCCs are urged to ensure that retail crime - which blights communities and harms shopworkers physically and mentally - is prioritised and successfully tackled in their communities.”

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: “The appalling level of incidents of violence and abuse against our retail colleagues means the #ShopKind campaign absolutely vital. Those facing these confrontations are ordinary, hardworking retail colleagues - teenagers taking on their first job, carers looking for part-time work, parents working around childcare. No one should ever go to work fearing for their safety. We remind customers to shop kind and be respectful to retail workers and fellow customers.”

National Business Crime Centre Lead Superintendent Patrick Holdaway said: “Shop workers play a key role in our local our communities yet every day we know many of them face verbal and physical abuse. The NBCC is working hard with police and partners to make retail spaces safer for employees and customers. The ShopKind campaign is an important reminder to be kind to the people working in retail who are there to help us and to show shopworkers that they have the support of their employers, the police and the public.”

Retailers looking to get involved with the campaign during #Shopkind Week can download supporting materials from the National Business Crime Centre website.

More for you

Illegal cigarettes

Illegal cigarettes seized in Harehills, Leeds

Photo: West Yorkshire Police

More than £60,000 of illegal tobacco and vapes seized in Leeds

More than £60,000 of illegal tobacco and vapes seized in Leeds

More than £60,000 worth of illegal cigarettes, hand-rolling tobacco and vapes have been seized in the Harehills area of Leeds, police said.

Keep ReadingShow less
Hannah Roberts

Hannah Roberts

Photo: Gloucestershire Constabulary

Prolific shoplifter banned from wearing wigs and entering Gloucester city centre

A prolific Gloucester shoplifter has been banned from wearing wigs after numerous attempts to disguise herself while committing thefts, Gloucestershire police said.

Hannah Roberts, aged 33 and of Nettleton Road, was handed a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) by Gloucester magistrates sitting at Cheltenham Magistrates' Court last month.

Keep ReadingShow less
Marks and Spencer

Marks & Spencer Foodhall in Wirral

Photo: iStock

M&S expects 'further progress' after first-half profit beat

Retailer Marks & Spencer forecast "further progress" in the balance of the year after reporting a better-than-expected 17.2 per cent rise in first-half profit, helped by market share gains, adding to evidence its latest turnaround plan is working.

After over a decade of failed revival efforts, M&S under chief executive Stuart Machin is reaping the rewards of a costly programme to improve the value and quality of its food and clothing, overhaul its store estate, upgrade its technology and e-commerce operations and modernise its supply chain.

Keep ReadingShow less
Post Office Horizon scandal: Starmer dismisses Sir Alan's call for March 2025 deadline
(Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Post Office Horizon scandal: Starmer dismisses Sir Alan's call for March 2025 deadline

Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer has dismissed need for a March 2025 deadline for compensating Post Office Horizon scandal victim, saying "an arbitrary cut-off date could result in some claimants missing the deadline".

In a response to Sir Alan Bates' call for a March 2025 deadline, Sir Keir Starmer's spokesperson today (5) stated that there would not be a deadline imposed.

Keep ReadingShow less
ACS calls for proper discussion on licensing scheme in Tobacco and Vapes Bill
iStock image

ACS calls for proper discussion on licensing scheme in Tobacco and Vapes Bill

Convenience store body has expressed concern over licensing scheme for retailers to sell tobacco, vape and nicotine products in England, Wales and Northern Ireland under Tobacco and Vapes Bill introduced in the Parliament today (5), saying that the licensing scheme has been outlined without any consultation with the retailers who will be most affected by it.

The Bill confirms the Government’s intention to create a "smoke free generation" by phasing out the sale of tobacco products to anyone currently aged 15 or younger. The generational ban will come into force in 2027, meaning that there will be a single date that retailers have to reference for age restricted sales on tobacco – rather than checking if a customer is over the age of 18.

Keep ReadingShow less