UK's Sainsbury’s backs police presence in stores to deter theft, violence
23/04/2026 12:04
By James Davey LONDON, April 23 (Reuters) - British supermarket group Sainsbury's SBRY.L would welcome a regular police presence in its stores to deter shoplifting and violence and abuse against staff, its boss said on Thursday. The issue of retail crime has become a hot political topic in Britain, with repeat offenders and criminal gangs operating with apparent impunity. Theft costs the industry billions of pounds and inflates prices for consumers as the expense of lost goods and increasing security is passed on. Sainsbury's CEO Simon Roberts said he was pleased to see a recent commitment from the UK government to recruit 3,000 extra neighbourhood police officers and community support officers over the next 12 months and wanted to see them in his stores. "Police on the beat are very welcome in our supermarkets and our stores as much as they can be. I think that would be a really good thing to see," Roberts told reporters after Sainsbury's reported full-year results. "It would just make the point that this issue is really serious, it really matters, it's really at the top of the agenda. Our colleagues shouldn't have to face these concerns and we need the help and support of the police," he said. M&S HAS CALLED FOR CRACKDOWN ON RETAIL CRIME Earlier this month, Marks & Spencer MKS.L, called for the government and police to crackdown on retail crime, saying its stores have been targeted by organised criminal gangs. Official data published on Thursday showed shoplifting offences in England and Wales declined by 1% to 509,566 in 2025. However, industry body, the British Retail Consortium, believes the data from the Office for National Statistics underestimates the issue, as it only captures reported incidents. The BRC said its own figures show 5.5 million detected incidents of theft last year and 1,600 incidents a day of violence and abuse against staff. Roberts also welcomed new legislation that will abolish the 200 pounds ($270) threshold for so called "low level" theft and create a specific offence for assaulting retail workers. ($1 = 0.7413 pounds) (Reporting by James Davey; editing by Sarah Young) ((james.davey@thomsonreuters.com))