New survey reveals the increasing cost of crime

The survey, sponsored by ADT, showed that the impact of crime and crime prevention cost the retail sector £2.13 billion in 2004, a nine per cent increase from the £1.96 billion cost in 2003. Over a five-year period, this cost is £11.2 billion, or an average of £2.24 billion pa.

Retailers spent £710m on crime prevention in their stores throughout 2004. Over five years the sector has spent £3.58 billion. Despite this investment, customer theft is a growing problem, with the number of known incidents per 100 outlets increasing in 2004 to 3,385, up 18 per cent from 2003. Since 2000 the figure has increased by nearly 50 per cent.

Violence against retail staff is still of grave concern, with verbal abuse rising by 35 per cent compared to 2003 and physical violence up 14 per cent. The survey says this has been a continuing trend since 2000.

BRC director general Kevin Hawkins said: "Over the past five years retailers have spent more than £3.5 billion on crime prevention, yet the losses over the same period have been more than double the value of this investment – more than £7 billion. This is an alarming figure.

"However, the most disturbing figure is the growing trend of verbal and physical violence experienced by retailers. Retail crime is not victimless. It leaves deep scars, not only on business viability and retail staff, but also on the community with the significant costs of prevention often passed on to all threads of society."

But ADT's national accounts director, Ken Scotland, said that a 71 per cent increase in crime prevention spending for small to medium enterprises is paying dividends, with losses down from customer theft. "The BRC results show that the sector is addressing retail crime head on," he said. "On average, SMEs are now spending over £2,600 per outlet on crime prevention, with a real focus on tackling fraud and customer theft.”

Smaller retailers needed to pay equal attention to protecting their staff and products, he said. They were 14 times more likely to experience verbal abuse and three times more likely to experience threats of violence than the industry average. They may also be experiencing a 'displacement' of crimes from larger retailers. In the last year, burglary in the SME sector was twice the industry average. With superstores and supermarkets using increasingly effective technology, criminals were looking to hit softer targets like convenience stores.