The national week for combatting retail crime and targeting prolific shoplifters has returned for its third year nationally.

Safer Business Action Week, organised by The National Business Crime Centre (NBCC), runs from October 14 to October 20 every year.

Superintendent Patrick Holdaway, NBCC’s lead officer, said: “This is a great opportunity to shine a light on some of the current issues businesses face.

“It also highlights the ongoing work that police and partners are doing, supported by the NBCC, to tackle the problems that matter to local retailers and other businesses.”

The week includes specialist operations, such as giving crime prevention advice to local businesses and conducting joint patrols to show a visible presence in shops.

Collette Mortimore, an employee at Within Reason, an independent business on Division Street, said: “In independent shops it’s really down to everyone and anyone to watch for crime, and schemes like this really help us and raise awareness on the
issue.

“People don’t want to talk about shoplifting, but it is happening. I think there’s a certain culture in shops like ours where you couldn’t imagine it occurring. This week we are shedding light on the problem.”

Supt Holdaway said, “When we launched the national week of action three-years ago, we never anticipated it would have such widespread support from policing and partners.

“Last year’s week of action saw some fantastic results in targeting those who cause the most harm to businesses.”

Jasmine Cross, an employee at a local retail shop Glass Onion said, “There are resources like the city ambassadors that are available to us in shoplifting situations, but it’s important that these action weeks exist to stop the problem at its core.”

Safer Business Action Week continues to encourage police and businesses to form a partnership so that they can work together to crack down on retail crime.