Poundland announces major change to 800 UK stores and says 'enough is enough'
Share:
Poundland is making a huge change to its stores as it launches a new campaign to tackle shoplifting. Today, the discount high street chain launched its "Against Retail Crime" initiative as part of its ongoing efforts to address increasing shop theft and abuse and harassment of retail staff. As part of the initiative, Poundland said it was investing "significantly" in security enhancement for its 800 UK store estate.
Store staff will soon wear communication headsets to communicate quickly when incidents occur. Following a successful trial across its estate, the retailer is also now rolling out Motorola Solutions VT100 body cameras to the stores with the "most significant crime" issues. Poundland says the cameras provide a visual deterrent for offenders and record incidents. They have also helped decrease violence against Poundland workers by 11% and shoplifting and theft by a "marked reduction".
Poundland is also giving its contracted security teams the backing to detain suspected offenders in stores and will employ more undercover guards. The retailer says it is working closely with local enforcement agencies and police forces and will receive support from undercover officers and will share CCTV to aid prosecution.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) reported in its latest Crime Survey that UK shop workers now face 1,300 incidents of violence and abuse every day, up 50% on the previous year. Poundland’s head of loss prevention Christina Jesty said: “The rate of store theft and colleague abuse has accelerated significantly across our stores in the last 18 months, and this has been very challenging for our people. Whether it’s store theft undermining all our colleagues’ hard work, or incidents of violence and abuse making our colleagues feel unsafe at work, something must change.
