Iceland boss: Security guards ought to carry truncheons and pepper spray to battle retail crime | EUROtoday

Security guards in retailers ought to carry pepper spray and truncheons to sort out rising retail crime, a grocery store boss has mentioned.

Lord Walker of Broxton, government chairman of Iceland, mentioned that “just one incident of violence against my staff is too many” as he pointed to the instance of armed Spanish safety guards, saying they “don’t mess about”.

It comes after Marks and Spencer’s retail director, Thinus Keeve, claimed its customer-facing employees have been being subjected to violence and abuse daily, and known as for the Government and the Mayor of London to crack down on crime.

In an interview with The Times, Lord Walker, who can also be the federal government’s cost-of-living tsar, mentioned he agreed together with his fellow excessive road large boss and mentioned: “We call it shoplifting, which sounds like a cheeky bit of pilfering, but actually we should just call it out for what it is, which is violent crime.

“We all saw the footage of marauding gangs and security guards being beaten up. The violent nature of it in Clapham is horrific.

“I’ve always argued for more powers for security guards. You go to Spain and all the security guards have pepper spray and a truncheon, they don’t mess about.”

The M&S government spoke out after unrest earlier this week involving one of many retail large’s shops in Clapham, south London, which noticed tons of of youths swarm excessive road retailers as a part of a web-based pattern.

In a message on M&S’s web site, Mr Keeve criticised the Government and Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan, writing: “Without a Government seriously cracking down on crime and a Mayor that prioritises effective policing we are powerless.”

He mentioned he has written to Sir Sadiq and M&S chief government Stuart Machin has written to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood calling for extra to be completed.

A survey of 1,000 customer-facing employees within the UK by the Institute of Customer Service discovered round 43% of frontline employees had skilled hostility or abuse from clients prior to now six months, up from 36% the earlier yr.

Institute chief government Jo Causon mentioned: “The shocking scenes in and around M&S this week are yet another reminder that abuse, hostility and criminal behaviour towards frontline workers is far too common — and all too often goes unpunished.

“This is not isolated to one brand or one sector: it is part of a much wider trend across our high streets and communities.

“For too many people working in customer-facing roles — whether in retail, hospitality, transport, or services — intimidation, threats and violence have become a grim part of the working day.”

The knowledge, revealed in October final yr, discovered 22% of employees inside this group had confronted threats of bodily violence.

The survey additionally discovered 40% of service employees seen violence and abuse as “too frequent” to report, and 35% of employees experiencing aggression have been contemplating leaving their jobs.

The Crime and Policing Bill, as soon as handed, will make the assault of a retail employee an offence.

The Bill has cleared each the Commons and Lords, however goes via a “tidying up process” between the 2 Houses of Parliament, which should agree on a remaining draft for the statute books.

Shoplifting offences elevated in England and Wales within the yr to September, however remained barely under report ranges seen within the 12 months to March 2025, the newest Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures out there present.

There have been 519,381 shoplifting offences within the yr to September 2025, up 5% from 492,660 the earlier yr.

A complete of 530,439 offences have been recorded within the yr to March 2025.