‘I labored at Waitrose – respectable-looking adults used similar two ways to shoplift’ | UK | News | EUROtoday

A former Waitrose employee has revealed ‘respectable-looking adults’ used the identical two ways to shoplift from the favored grocery store chain.

Speaking ananymously to The Times, they recalled seeing the thefts happen as they stacked the cabinets at one of many shops within the ‘dwelling counties’.

They revealed that they might see the identical two ways carried out by thieving customers: “I’ve seen respectable-looking adults walking around the shop with their self-scanners, pretending to scan.

“Some switched labels on the underside of high-ticket gadgets, particularly these with peelable decreased labels. Maybe your natural sirloin steaks have the label of a decreased loaf of bread.”

Meanwhile, as the anecdotal evidence provided by the former Waitrose employee shows worrying signs for the supermarket. The Chief Executive of Waitrose, James Bailey, spoke to the MailOnline that the threat of ‘brazen and aggressive gangs’ has made him  concerned about his staff’s safety.

“We’ve invested quite a bit in safety together with CCTV, body-worn cameras and public show screens. But the menace from brazen and aggressive gangs continues to be prevalent in some shops,” he added.

“It’s an industry-wide downside that wants {industry} collaboration earlier than it will get any worse.”

And Mr Bailey’s feedback come as the federal government have vowed to clamp down on assaulting store staff by making it a selected offence that might carry a most six month jail time period. However, that is but to be put into have an effect on.

The newest statistics launched by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) earlier this yr painted a stark image for supermarkets with the very best charge of shoplifting in 20 years. The figures confirmed that there have been 402,482 shoplifting offences recorded in England and Wales within the 12 months earlier than September 2023.

And the newest figures had been an enormous rise from these of the earlier yr, as they had been up 32 per cent on the 304,459 recorded within the earlier 12 months.