M&S boss calls for more action on crime and abuse of staff

Marks & Spencer's retail director has called for a crackdown on retail crime, after a string of incidents involving shoplifting and violence at its stores.

Thinus Keeve said police should be given the resources to tackle the issue, which he says is "getting worse, not better", with retail staff facing "abuse and violence in their workplace every day".

M&S external affairs director Adam Hawksbee told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that stores have been targeted by organised criminal gangs, leaving staff "worried about coming into work".

Police responded to reports of anti-social behaviour involving a group of "several hundred young people" last weekend in Clapham, south London. Many were seen entering an M&S.

Writing in the Telegraph, Keeve said he had written to London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan urging him to provide extra support for police. It is understood the mayor will meet with M&S soon.

Keeve said: "In the past week alone we have had gangs forcing open locked cabinets and stripping shelves, two men brazenly emptying the shelves of steak and walking out, a large group of young people ransacking a store before assaulting a security guard, a colleague headbutted trying to defuse a situation and another hospitalised after having ammonia thrown in their face."

He added: "We need to recognise this for what it is. A systemic issue. A growing issue. And one that demands a co-ordinated response across government, policing and industry."

Retail crime has become "more brazen, more organised and more aggressive", Keeve said. "We need a stronger, faster and more consistent police response, using tools that already exist to target repeat offenders and crime hotspots."

M&S chief executive Stuart Machin has also written to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, according to Keeve.

Hawksbee said that while retail crime has always existed, it "does feel in the past weeks and months that the problem is getting worse".

The external affairs director said M&S had invested "tens of millions" into security but that there was "only so much you can do" without additional police intervention and more use of data to identify retail crime hotspots.

A spokesperson for the mayor of London said: "Shoplifting is not a victimless crime and the mayor fully supports the Met Police's data-driven and targeted approach to tackling prolific offenders."

Crime and Policing Minister Sarah Jones called the incidents "disgraceful" and urged police to use all the tools at their disposal to protect workers and punish those responsible.

"We're giving police stronger powers, ending the immunity for thefts under £200 so that shoplifters can be prosecuted," she added.

About 100 officers were called to Clapham High Street on Tuesday where young people were reported to be attempting to access shops and a restaurant. They also lit fires and set off fireworks on Clapham Common.

Six teenage girls were arrested after two separate incidents of anti-social behaviour "fuelled by online trends", according to the Met Police.

Five people were assaulted, including four police officers. The Met said it expected more arrests would be made in the coming days.

Ahead of the Bank Holiday weekend, the Met said they had increased officer numbers and put in place a "strong policing plan... to prevent and deal with any future disorder".

Hawksbee said M&S bosses had been planning to contact the home secretary and London mayor prior to the Clapham incident.

He called on local and national leaders to "all get round the table, roll our sleeves up and try to deal with this challenge because at the moment it feels like it's going in the wrong direction".

Incidents of anti-social behaviour involving teens have been reported in other parts of the country in recent days.

In Rochdale, police imposed a dispersal order on Friday and Saturday after groups were "reported to be harassing staff and causing criminal damage".

West Midlands Police imposed restrictions on gatherings in Solihull for 36 hours from Monday after "children and teenagers" were reported to be causing criminal damage.

Additional reporting by Ella Kipling.