Thieves target convenience stores

Theft is a major issue for convenience stores. Picture: Elvis Batiz

More than 90 per cent of convenience stores in Scotland experienced some kind of shop theft during the past year.

That’s according to the inaugural Retail Crime Report from the Scottish Grocers’ Federation (SGF), launched last week.

The Talking Retail website reported that further findings f included the fact that the majority of threatening and abusive incidents towards shop staff were triggered either by a refusal of sale or request for ID.

The total cost of in-store crime to the participants in the SGF survey was more than £1.3m, while the average spend by stores on crime prevention measures was almost £4000.

The report was unveiled at the first-ever SGF Retail Crime Seminar, which was held in Edinburgh

It includes a comprehensive guide to increasing security and preventing crime in-store, produced in tandem with the Scottish Business Resilience Centre (SBRC).

Also launched at the conference was the Standards Charter for Safer Business, developed by the SGF and SBRC and endorsed by Police Scotland.

The charter provides a step-by-step checklist for businesses to ensure they reduce the opportunities for criminals to strike.

Speakers at the conference stressed to retailers the importance of partnership working to reduce and deal effectively with in-store crime.

SGF chief executive Pete Cheema said: “It’s vital we work effectively with Police Scotland and other key agencies to create a safer working environment for retailers.