Organised gangs of shoplifters are targeting high-end supermarkets in a new wave of attacks, the boss of Waitrose has said.
James Bailey, 50, revealed there has been a 15 percent rise in the number of assaults on staff members involving weapons in the last year.
Mr Bailey told the Mail On Sunday his employees are facing attacks by ‘brazen and aggressive’ gangs.
It comes amid a nationwide surge in the prevalence of shoplifting gangs, who can steal tens of thousands of pounds worth of goods in a matter of weeks.
Waitrose has had to invest in more security measures to protect its staff and shops, Mr Bailey said, after it was reported gangs of thieves are taking advantage of stores close to Tube stations and major road networks to make a swift escape.
Chief executive Mr Bailey said he is most concerned about the safety of his staff.
‘We’ve invested a lot in security including CCTV, body-worn cameras and public display monitors. But the threat from brazen and aggressive gangs is still prevalent in some stores,’ he says.
‘It’s an industry-wide problem that needs industry collaboration before it gets any worse.’
He added customers are also ‘not scanning properly’ at his shops’ self-checkouts, resulting in lost revenue.
‘Obviously, there’s a vulnerability. Some people are not scanning properly either accidentally or on purpose.’
The government has pledged to crack down on shoplifting and make assaulting shop workers a specific offence.
In London, shoplifters are particularly targeting stores close to Tube stations to give themselves an easy escape route.
The new offence, which is yet to be put into place, would see perpetrators sentenced to a maximum of six months in prison.
Just last month, a 48-year-old man was sentenced after attacking a Waitrose employee with a can after being asked to leave the Buxton branch in Derbyshire.
James Hudson was kicked out of the store on August 8, 2023, at which point he told the employee: ‘You better watch yourself when you leave work.’
He then attacked the worker three days later with the can, causing facial injuries, and made a call on his phone, when he was heard to say: ‘I’ve got this lad that needs sorting out, I’ll give you £5,000 to come and shoot him.’
After the incident was reported to the police, Hudson returned to the store and called the shop worker a ‘wimp’. He was handed a suspended sentence.
Mr Bailey’s comments follow those of Lucy Brown, director of security for the John Lewis Partnership – of which Waitrose is a partner – who said the recent rise in shoplifting is due to gangs rather than the cost of living crisis.
Britain is currently in the midst of a shoplifting crisis, as police figures recently showed offences have soared by 30 per cent in a year to the highest level in two decades.
Almost 444,000 crimes were recorded by forces in England and Wales in the year to March, up from 342,428 in the previous 12 months.
This is the highest figure since records began in 2003, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Ms Brown, who oversees security at both Waitrose and John Lewis, previously told : ‘Some shops are targeted every day, others several times a day. And we’re fortunate because we’re not the worst hit.’
‘We’ve seen a real increase post-Covid. We don’t believe it’s linked to the cost of living. You have people living chaotic lives with substance abuse who are stealing to fund their habits.
‘Another major problem – which is new – are organised criminal gangs. They spend as much time shoplifting as we do on our normal jobs. They will target Tube routes, road networks and steal to order.
‘There have been gangs operating across north London going from shop to shop and threatening teams with violence.
‘The stuff they target tends to be whatever has the highest retail value on the black market.
‘That includes alcohol in Waitrose, and in John Lewis portable tech and high-value dental products like [electric] toothbrushes.
‘It’s high value, easy to carry and easy to dispose of. Another thing is high-value fragrances like Tom Ford.’