UK phone retailers lock shop doors while trading to tackle rising thefts | Retail industry

Mobile phone retailers lock their doors at process hours and are thinking of using “killing switches, to disable the stolen devices, because theft increases more than nine times on some high streets for organized crime.

Vodafonethree, which operates its largest retail network with 650 stores throughout England, experienced an increase of 967% of theft in the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2024.

“In recent months, the telecom sector has seen a worrying increase in aggressive robbers and attempted robbers in stores, especially in London and England,” he said. “Vodafonethree has increased nine times in such events.”

On the other hand, the company has brought measures that require security guards to open the doors of the store to customers at trade hours rather than always staying open, including a locked door policy in some stores. “This is a disappointing, but a necessary step,” he said.

The newly established mobile phone company, which employs 4,300 personnel in their stores, defines as a robbery or robbery attempt by groups of two or more masked individuals who enter a store and threaten the personnel to obtain access to stock cafes to steal devices. Retailers have repeatedly expressed their concerns about their increasing theft levels in recent years.

Virgin Media O2, which has 305 stores with approximately 2,600 employees, has attempted more than twice the robbery in the first half of this year compared to the entire 2024.

The company, which has undertaken its biggest investment to increase security in its stores, said that its robbery initiatives have increased at least double in the last three years, albeit from a low base in 2022.

The investment in new security measures includes increasing the number of security officers, the establishment of a locked door policy at the hot points of crime, the establishment of new panic alarms and the development of security monitoring systems.

The company said that it has already reduced the number of successful robberies where measures are introduced, and like Vodafonethree, cooperating more intensively with the police to capture thieves.

Virgin Media O2 said that more than 40 people have been arrested and accused since last July and the robbery success rate was half this year with 2022.

Virgin Media O2 Retail Director Will Houldsworth said: “In recent months, we have seen an unacceptable increase in the initiative of store robberies in the last months directed by the activities of organized crime gangs targeting mobile phone stores in London and Southeast.

“In certain stores at a higher risk, we apply a ‘locked door’ policy and invest in more security guards, panic alarms and advanced in -house security systems, fighting and protecting our people and customers.

“We continue to work with law enforcement and other providers with similar problems to solve this problem and secure arrests and convictions.”

In June, a distinguished committee of the deputies accused Apple and Google of making profit from having to change smartphones stolen in multimilyon -pound street phone capture operations, which the police said that the police said that the organized crime gangs were carried out by organized crime gangs.

The Metropolitan Police has provided evidence to the House of Commons Science and Technology, which has tried for the last two years of smartphone companies to prevent stolen devices from accessing cloud services for the last two years.

Apple and Google representatives drew attention to other safety features built on the phones.

The distinguished committee session focuses on mobile phone theft from public members-only 80,000 devices were stolen in London-a “killing key ılan called the“ killing key ”, which is willing to see the entry of unqualified phones from stores.

For example, in Apple’s own stores Advanced safety measures that make their phones effectively unusable If they are removed from the retail point.

When Apple was asked, he pointed to a publication on the website last month on how to protect user data and to deterrence iPhone theft with advanced security guards ”.

Apple said he cooperated with the theft and the “law enforcement forces around the world” to fight device theft and “fake parts operations”.

A new report by Squaretrade, the device insurance, estimated that 80% of stolen devices are Apple products.

The Company said that between June 2021 and May this year in the UK, an increase of 425% of insurance allegations.