The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has raised concerns over the increasingly violent nature of shop theft after new national crime figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed a rise in robberies. The latest Crime Survey for England and Wales, released today (22 October), records a 2% fall in the number of shop thefts logged by police in the year to June 2026, alongside a 10% increase in robberies.
Recording change behind robbery rise
The jump in robberies is likely linked to a change in how certain offences are now recorded. According to the ONS notes on the release: “If an offender enters a retail premises, steals, and either uses or threatens violence against a shop worker, or security guard, or any other person at the time, or uses or threatens violence to escape, then an offence of robbery of business property should be recorded.”
The notes add: “This clarification is likely to also have had a small effect on reducing the number of shoplifting offences.”
ACS welcomes tougher treatment but urges caution
The convenience retail body has welcomed the recording change, as it means such offences will be treated more seriously by police forces and face tougher penalties. However, it has urged caution over claims that theft is falling overall.
ACS chief executive Ed Woodall said: “We are extremely concerned about the changing nature of theft against retailers. Offenders are becoming more confident, more brazen, and ultimately more violent in their crimes, threatening retailers and shopworkers to get away with stolen goods.”
He added: “The Crime and Policing Act marked a big step forward in ensuring that the police treat shop theft more seriously, but many of the key measures from the Act such as the scrapping of the £200 threshold for investigating thefts, and the separate offence for attacking a shopworker are still not in place.”
Call for government action
Woodall concluded: “The government must act as soon as possible to show that it backs the hardworking people running and working in our nation’s local shops.”
