Retail Crime Forum: minutes 17 March 2026
Updated 23 April 2026
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Attendees
- Sarah Jones, Minister for Policing and Crime (Chair)
- ACC Alex Goss, National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for retail crime
- PCC Andy Dunbobbin and PCC Katy Bourne, Association of Police and Crime Commissioners
- Opal
- City of London Police
- Dr Emmeline Taylor, University of City of London
- British Retail Consortium
- Association of Convenience Stores
- Federation of Wholesale Distributors
- Federation of Small Businesses
- National Association of Business Crime Reduction Partnerships
- British Independent Retailers Association
- Mitie
- Tesco
- Co-Op
- Sainsburys
- Lidl
- John Lewis
- Primark
- Boots
- BP
- Ikea
- TJX Europe
- Morrisons
- Oris Media
Government update
Minister Jones opened the meeting. Officials from the Home Office Neighbourhood Crime Unit reported that while shop theft offences continue to trend upward, both the number of charges and the overall charge rate are rising, showing the police are taking these crimes seriously.
They also provided an update on the government measures to tackle shop theft, including the Crime and Policing Bill which will receive Royal Assent in Spring and contains the assault against a retail worker offence and repeals the £200 limit.
Retail crime prolific offender pilots
Officials from the Home Crime Prevention & Insights Unit explained the work on the prolific offender pilots. The pilot will involve up to 15 police forces across the country starting this summer and will focus on the most prolific offenders in each police force- estimated to be around 100 in a mid-size force. Running for up to 9 months, this will be a targeted project focusing on effective law enforcement approaches and the drivers of offending and providing support such as housing and drug treatment.
The Home Secretary will be writing to other government departments to invite them to a roundtable, ensuring that there is a whole system approach.
Attendees welcomed this work and wished to share their experiences of similar current work being undertaken.
Police update
Tackling Retail Crime Together Strategy
Police updated on the Tackling Retail Crime Together Strategy. They highlighted the success of the National Business Crime Centre Safer Business action weeks and the work being undertaken by Opal to identify the threats across both retail crime and organised retail crime.