M&S PLEA FOR HELP

Stuart Machin and Thinus Keeve of Marks and Sparks

Top bosses at Marks and Spencers have issued desperate pleas for politicians to crack down on the scourge of shoplifting - a criminal act that affects us all through higher retail prices.  Chief executive Stuart Machin has written to the Home Secretary, while retail director Thinus Keeve has written to the London Mayor following the disturbing scenes in Clapham recently.

They know, as well as anyone else, that the problem is only going to get worse - with little, if anything, to deter the thieves.  Keeve's letter to Sadiq Khan was accompanied by a public statement (see below) in which he lashed out at the Mayor's policing policies, including a dig at Khan's repeated claims that 'crime is falling' and the absurd suggestion that 'London is one of the safest cities in the world'.

This is Mr Keeve's public statement in full, originally published on the company's website:

"I keep hearing crime is falling, especially in London - something none of us believe and very few people working in retail would see. In fact, we see the absolute opposite in our High Streets and in our stores, where our colleagues are on the receiving end of abuse and violence in their workplace every day.

It is becoming more brazen, more organised and more aggressive.

Across the UK, there were around 5.5 million incidents of shoplifting last year, and that excludes the vast number that go unreported. Every day, more than 1,600 retail workers face violence or abuse. This is not isolated. It is systemic and it is getting worse, not better.

And behind every statistic is a colleague who is simply trying to do their job and serve their customers.

As Retail Director at M&S, I see this reality every day. I see the hurt and listen to the concerns of colleagues and customers after an attack in a shop. 

In the past week alone we have had gangs forcing open locked cabinets and stripping shelves, two men brazenly emptying the shelves of steak and walking out, a large group of young people ransacking a store before assaulting a security guard, a colleague headbutted trying to defuse a situation and another hospitalised after having ammonia thrown in their face.

It is worse in London, but it is happening across the country, and it is becoming routine, because it seems there are no consequences. 

Our colleagues come to work to serve customers, build relationships and take pride in what they do. Instead, too many are dealing with theft, intimidation and verbal and physical abuse as part of their daily reality. That erodes confidence. It impacts wellbeing and it drives people out of the industry.

And that matters beyond retail.

Retail is where many people in the UK start their working lives. It is where confidence is built, skills are learned and careers begin. When stores become unsafe, we are not just failing retail workers. We are failing the next generation of the workforce.

The industry is not standing still. Retailers have invested billions in security, technology and loss prevention. At M&S we’ve invested more in the last year than ever before - tens of millions to protect our stores, our stock and most importantly our people, using tools like ‘Auror’, a crime fighting partnership which helps us identify repeat offenders and work more effectively with police forces.

But investment alone is not enough and the level of crime we face in so many communities is not something retailers can solve alone. We put in cameras, guards and systems, but it does not stop colleagues being abused or stores being damaged.

Without a government seriously cracking down on crime and a Mayor that prioritises effective policing we are powerless. We need a stronger, faster and more consistent police response, using tools that already exist to target repeat offenders and crime hotspots.

And we need far greater transparency on crime so the true scale and impact is understood and can be used to target resources.

That’s why our Chief Executive, Stuart Machin, has written to the Home Secretary and I’ve written to the Mayor of London, calling for exactly this. 

It’s a clear ask: Support our police. Help them show up in our communities when and where we need them. Give them the resources they need to tackle crime effectively and ensure they work with retailers to consistently use the tools we’ve developed to share data and help them actively target offenders.

This is not complicated. The capability exists. The data exists. The investment has been made. Time is up, we need to deal with this now.

Because every day this continues, colleagues are being verbally abused, threatened or worse. Every day, confidence in our high streets is being chipped away and this has to stop.

Retail is a cornerstone of the UK economy and a vital part of every community. But more than that, it is a human business. It depends on people feeling safe coming to work and safe walking into stores.

Right now, that is under threat, more than I have ever seen in decades of working in retail around the world.

We need to recognise this for what it is. A systemic issue. A growing issue. And one that demands a co-ordinated response across government, policing and industry.

Our colleagues deserve better."

Hear, hear.

The phenomenon of 'link-up looting', as seen in Clapham, is largely inspired by similar incidents that have plagued Californian cities in particular.  Mobs of youths arrange to meet up en masse to target shopping centres or specific stores, overwhelming security and police.  It has become such a problem in places like Los Angeles that smaller businesses have been forced to close permanently and bigger retail stores have threatened to leave the state altogether.

Incidents of mass looting usually coincides with school holidays and that's exactly what we saw recently over Easter, with the Clapham incidents followed by similar mobs targeting Birmingham city centre and a shopping centre in Milton Keynes.  The M&S guys would never admit it publicly, but this is the predictable result of a multi-cultural society paired with wider social decay, a collapse in morality and the complete absence of judicial deterrent.  

Those behind these recent orchestrated acts of lawlessness were quite possibly emboldened by the leftist looting that immediately preceded it.  Keffiyeh-clad leftists from the 'Take Back Power' group have filmed themselves brazenly filling shopping trolleys and walking out of supermarkets without paying for the goods.  These ideological thieves use Marxist language to justify their actions, claiming to 'redistribute food from the wealthy to those in need'.  Seeing as their actions will push up retail prices for everybody, this is complete nonsense.

With a combination of brazen communists styling themselves as modern day merry men (or merry they/thems), gangs of largely Afro-Caribbean youths on the rampage and the ever-spiralling cost of living, this year's summer school holidays could be chaotic.