A couple who run one of Tenby’s busiest stores have highlighted the impact retail crime and shoplifting has on small local businesses, telling BBC’s Newsnight programme that such matters are not a ‘victimless’ crime and should have stronger ‘consequences’.
Vince and Fiona Malone who took the helm at Tenby Stores & Post Office back in 2014 spoke to Newsnight presenter Victoria Derbyshire to explain how theft had cost them a total of £26,000 last year, with shoplifting sometimes occurring daily at the premises.
“Last year we lost £26,000 to shoplifting. We have inventory control so we know that’s what we’ve lost. It averages out £500 a week,” explained Vince.
“That’s the amount of money that would get us another member of staff in our building. It’s an horrific number, that when we worked it out, lead us to say that we’ve got to do something different, we’ve got to break this, we have got to do things that are going to make our business profitable again!”
CCTV of shoplifters caught in the act at the store which sits opposite the town walls, was shared with the show, with Fiona detailing the AI technology called x-hoppers that they have decided to install, which tracks and manages people as they move around the shop, so that if they make a suspicious gesture, it pings up a little video on a mobile phone, allowing the management to immediately take action.
“It’s happening sometimes on a daily basis, and it’s really frustrating for us,” said Fiona.
“It’s happening far too often, and it’s not fair. We’re not the richest people in the world. We run the business for the community. We’re a post office as well, and if we were to close, the town would have nowhere to do its banking.
“That’s not fair, and it’s not sustainable for us to just keep on taking on the losses.”
Vince said that a total of 32 cameras are circulated around the inside of the store, which has allowed them to be able to identify shoplifting better.
“The trouble we’re having is that we are finding the shoplifters, and we’re passing that information onto the police, but these people are coming back again and again, because we’re not seeing that there’s any consequences for their actions, and this is what we would like to see,” he remarked.
“As a father with my children, I say to them there are consequences to your actions, but we’re not seeing that.
“We’ve got the technology there, we can identify when problems are happening, and when you see the videos, some of these people are really brazen, it doesn’t matter what you do, they’re going out of the building.
“So we as a society and as an industry need to look at how we deal with this.”
Vince recently brought their concerns to the attention of Mid and South Pembrokeshire MP Henry Tufnell at the Pembrokeshire County Show, where he was able to discuss retail crime and the impact it has on communities and retailers.
On August 9 of this month, Vince shared a post on social media documenting how ‘angry’ he was in light of a shoplifter assaulting him the previous day, and his frustration on how retail crime was out of control.
“I’m angry at the level of physical and verbal abuse retailers have to put up with,” he shared with the store’s followers on Facebook.
“I’m angry at the sheer level of losses we absorb through shoplifting.
“I’m angry that my team and my family are subjected to such abuse.
“I’m angry that it’s accepted in our society now as a victimless crime.
“I’m angry that this victimless crime cost me £26,000 last year, please re read, yes £26k.
“I’m not angry about not being respected, but I am angry at the sheer level of disrespect shown to independent retailers up and down the country.
“I’m angry that we have it easy here in Tenby, with far worse occurrences and outcomes commonplace in many towns and cities.
“I’m angry that I’m angry and I’m angry that there seems no hope of a solution.
“As you can tell we clearly had a difficult day yesterday, clearly there will be many retailers who have had a worse one.
“We need to work together as communities, as a country and we need support from government and all relevant agencies to rectify this outrageous situation.
“It is the time for change, it is the time for action and it is the time to not be angry,” he added.
Vince told Victoria details on the assault that had occurred, when a shoplifter who had stolen from the store in the morning, was caught on CCTV, yet came back in at midday and stole again!
“Fiona has identified him, I heard that there was a commotion on the shop floor, I came running out. Voices were raised, there was bad language used, and my number one aim then was to make sure that I defused the situation and got this individual out of the building,” explained Vince.
“This is our business, this is our livelihood, I told him. Every pound you steal, is money taken away from our children as well. I took him outside of the shop and said to him you are banned, because you’re shoplifting. He took umbrage to that and took a swing, glanced my chin and hit me on the shoulder.”
“We called the police, we reported the assault, they turned up fairly quickly and said all the right things.”
Fiona added that shoplifting and theft has become too easy for people, as they think its a victimless crime.
“It’s not a victimless crime. Stealing from any shop, no matter the size, has an impact. “It has an impact on staff, an impact on prices, and it could have potential big impact on the local community,” she said.
“The frustration for us, is if we have a number of children that come in and shoplift, if they’re allowed to just get away with it, they’ll come back in again, and they think it’s almost their right that that’s ok to do. There should be consequences for people’s actions,” added Fiona.