M&S staff fear going to work as retail crime surges and violence escalates

Staff at Marks & Spencer are increasingly “worried about coming into work,” a senior executive has warned, as the retailer urged the Government to take tougher action against rising levels of retail crime.

The company said its customer-facing employees are now subjected to violence and abuse on a daily basis, with one recent incident leaving a staff member hospitalised after having ammonia thrown in their face.

The warning follows disturbances at an M&S store in Clapham, south London, where hundreds of youths gathered as part of a social media-driven trend targeting high street shops. The incident forced businesses to close and highlighted growing concerns over disorder in retail areas.

In a strongly worded statement, retail director Thinus Keeve criticised both the Government and the Mayor of London, arguing that retailers are being left exposed.

“Without a government seriously cracking down on crime and a Mayor that prioritises effective policing, we are powerless,” he said, in remarks directed at Sadiq Khan.

Mr Keeve has since contacted City Hall, while M&S chief executive Stuart Machin has written to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, calling for urgent intervention.

Official figures underline the scale of the problem. Shoplifting offences in England and Wales rose to 519,381 incidents in the year to September 2025 — a 5 per cent increase on the previous year and only slightly below the record high recorded earlier in 2025.

The Office for National Statistics data has prompted warnings from the British Retail Consortium, which said theft is now “one of the main triggers for violence and abuse against retail workers,” particularly in cases involving organised criminal gangs.

Ministers are seeking to address the issue through the forthcoming Crime and Policing Bill, which will make assaulting a retail worker a specific criminal offence.

The Bill will also reclassify low-value shoplifting — involving goods worth up to £200 — under general theft laws, carrying a maximum penalty of seven years in prison. Having passed through both Houses of Parliament, it is now in the final stages before becoming law.

Retailers warn that unless enforcement improves, legislation alone will not be enough to reverse the trend.

With incidents of violence becoming more frequent and increasingly severe, the crisis facing frontline shop workers is rapidly becoming one of the most pressing challenges on Britain’s high streets.