Iceland boss: Security guards should carry truncheons and pepper spray to fight retail crime
Security guards in stores should carry pepper spray and batons to combat rising retail crime, a supermarket boss has said.
Iceland’s chairman, Lord Walker of Broxton, cited armed Spanish security guards as an example, saying “even one incident of violence against my staff is too many” and that “they were not involved”.
It comes after Marks and Spencer’s retail manager Thinus Keeve claimed customer-facing staff were subjected to violence and abuse on a daily basis and called on the Government and the Mayor of London to tackle crime.
Lord Walker, who is also the government’s cost of living tsar, said in an interview with The Times that he agreed with his fellow high street giant boss, saying: “We call it shoplifting, which sounds like brazen theft, but we have to be clear about what it actually is, it is a violent crime.
“We have all seen the images of marauding gangs and security guards being beaten. The violence in Clapham is appalling.
“I’ve always argued that security guards should have more authority. You go to Spain and all the security guards have pepper spray and batons, they don’t even try.”
The M&S executive spoke out following unrest at one of the retail giant’s stores in Clapham, south London, earlier this week, which saw hundreds of young people flocking to high street stores as part of an online trend.
Mr Keeve criticized the Government and London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan in a message on M&S’s website, writing: “Without a Government that seriously tackles crime and a Mayor who prioritizes effective policing, we are powerless.”
He said he had written to Sir Sadiq and M&S chief executive Stuart Machin had also called on Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood for more to be done.
A survey of 1,000 customer-facing workers by the Customer Service Institute in the UK found that around 43% of frontline staff had experienced hostility or harassment from customers in the past six months; This rate increased by 36% compared to the previous year.
Jo Causon, chief executive of the institute, said: “The shocking scenes in and around M&S this week are a further reminder that harassment, hostility and criminal behavior towards frontline workers is rampant and often goes unpunished.
“This is not specific to one brand or sector: it is part of a much wider trend across our high streets and communities.
“For too many people working in customer-facing roles in the retail, hospitality, transportation or service industries, intimidation, threats and violence have become a terrifying part of the working day.”
Data published in October last year revealed that 22 percent of employees in this group faced threats of physical violence.
The survey also found that 40 per cent of service workers see violence and abuse too frequent to report, and 35 per cent of staff who have been subjected to aggression have considered leaving their job.
When passed, the Crime and Policing Bill will make it an offense to assault a retail worker.
The bill has been approved in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords but is going through a “regulatory process” between the two Houses of Parliament, where a final draft on the statute books must be agreed.
Shoplifting crimes increased in England and Wales through September, but remained slightly below record levels seen in the 12 months to March 2025, according to the latest available figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
There were 519,381 theft crimes in the year to September 2025; This figure was up 5% from 492,660 the previous year.
A total of 530,439 crimes were recorded during the year to March 2025.
