A national week of action tackling retail abuse and crime, backed by policing minister Sarah Jones, begins today, Monday 9 November, uniting four campaigns for the first time. The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS), Usdaw, the Retail Trust and the National Business Crime Centre (NBCC) have joined forces for a coordinated response, combining activity in shops and workplaces with public campaigning.
Four campaigns unite for the first time
Running from 9 to 15 November 2026, the partnership brings together ACS's ShopKind, Usdaw's Respect for Shopworkers Week, the Retail Trust's Let's Respect Retail and NBCC's Safer Business Action Week. Together, they aim to encourage respect for retail workers, call on shoppers to change their behaviour and support practical action against crime affecting businesses and their communities.
Preparations span workplace events, public advertising and support for retailers to take part in stores, alongside a coordinated policing response.
Partner activity planned for the week
ACS's ShopKind, with 173 supporting organisations, will be promoted through national and trade media, with updated materials for stores and social media. Supporters are encouraged to publicly endorse the campaign and nominate ShopKind Champions to share its messages.
Usdaw's Respect for Shopworkers Week involves representative-led campaigning in around 1,000 retail workplaces, backed by major retailers. Messages will ask shoppers to "Keep Your Cool" and workers to "Report It – Sort It". Usdaw will also release interim findings from its 2026 Freedom From Fear survey of retail workers' experiences.
The Retail Trust's Let's Respect Retail campaign will publish a new report showing the scale of shop staff abuse and its impact on workers, alongside calls for shoppers to treat shop workers respectfully appearing in thousands of stores, shop windows, shopping centres, cinemas and transport hubs. Employees at some of the country's biggest retailers and shopping centres are also being given more support by the Retail Trust to help them respond to and deal with abusive incidents.
The NBCC is coordinating the policing response, with 20 forces already confirming participation. Forces are encouraged to work with businesses, Business Crime Reduction Partnerships and Business Improvement Districts on local activity covering prevention, intelligence, enforcement and engagement. This could include targeting prolific offenders, sharing intelligence on crime hotspots and improving incident reporting.
Minister and partners respond
Crime and policing minister Sarah Jones said: "Retail workers are the backbone of our high streets, and no one should face abuse, threats or violence simply for doing their job."
She added: "I am proud to support this national week of action, which brings together retailers, police and local partners to tackle the abuse, theft and antisocial behaviour that affects communities across the country. Shop theft is finally falling and there are thousands more neighbourhood police on our streets. But we won't stop there. We are clear that retail crime is not minor and those responsible will be held accountable."
Superintendent Lisa Maslen, National Business Crime Centre lead, said: "The strength of this week is the partnership behind it. Bringing all four campaigns together for the first time means we can reach more businesses, hear directly from shopworkers and turn that shared commitment into local action."
She continued: "With 20 police forces already signed up, preparations are gathering pace. Alongside our partners' work in stores and communities, policing will focus on preventing crime, sharing intelligence and targeting the offenders causing the greatest harm."
Association of Convenience Stores chief executive Ed Woodall said: "We are delighted at the support for the ShopKind campaign shown in thousands of shops across the UK and believe that bringing ShopKind Week together with leading awareness campaigns from shopworkers union USDAW, the Retail Trust and the National Business Crime Centre, sends a clear united message that colleagues shouldn't have to face abuse, that the businesses they work for will report incidents, and that the police will respond effectively."
He added: "Together with the backing of tougher legislation, we can make a real positive difference to hundreds of thousands of people working in our nation's local shops."
The four partners have been encouraging businesses to use campaign materials, involve staff and link up with their local police and business partnerships to plan activity during the week.
