00:00No one should have to go to work fearing for their safety.
00:05So it's something we really want to see stamped out
00:08and, you know, really clamped down on by the police.
00:10But when it's your own business,
00:12the items on the shelves that are being stolen
00:15are effectively your savings.
00:17And they have to be replaced.
00:19It costs money to replace them.
00:21And these smaller businesses just have not got the reserves,
00:25cash reserves, that is,
00:26to keep replenishing stock that's been stolen.
00:29We see people go into perhaps major supermarkets at times
00:33and empty the shelves of booze or cigarettes
00:36while wielding, you know, machetes.
00:38So large retailers are often targeted
00:41because they have a lot of goods,
00:42because they're a large business.
00:44This new government, in its manifesto,
00:46talked about investing in neighbourhood policing.
00:49We hope that manifests itself
00:51in terms of more police officers being recruited
00:54and allocated to the high streets around the country.
00:57Many people seem to think that, you know,
00:59it's a victimless crime.
01:00It's not.
01:01It pushes up prices for everyone.
01:03It, you know, scares the bejesus out of retail workers,
01:08out of customers.
01:10We've seen how quickly the courts can deal with issues.
01:15We saw that with the horrible riots
01:17and retailers were affected in those riots in the summer.
01:21So, you know, those perpetrators were identified,
01:25taken to court and punishment administered quickly.
01:30And that's what we'd like to see also
01:32when dealing with the people
01:35who always come back into shops almost daily,
01:37stealing to order.
01:38They should be dealt with and addressed with
01:40in an expedient manner.
01:42Otherwise, we're simply going to see this problem
01:44getting worse and worse.
01:46More it's the shoplifting,
01:47more incidents of violence and abuse.
01:50And that simply makes retail less attractive for everyone,
01:52both customers and the people working hard within the shops.
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