The retail sector faces an increasingly complex risk landscape. Volumes of organised crime and customer theft have surged in recent years, in tandem with an increase in abuse against retail staff. These factors are undermining the sector’s reputation as a rewarding place of work, and squeezing profit margins for businesses already facing significant economic pressure.
With consequences that span the entire value chain, finding a solution requires will, resource, and collaboration. Landlords, their appointed agents, and retailers must come together to minimise threats to safety and protect their bottom line.
A frontline and boardroom issue
The latest figures paint a sobering picture of the risk landscape. According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC)’s 2025 Crime Survey Report, levels of retail and violent abuse surged by 50% (opens a new window) in 2023-2024, with more than 2,000 incidents per day. Respondents cited a lack of police response, emboldened shoplifters, and the cost-of-living crisis among the key drivers.
These issues represent a significant risk to retailer’s bottom line. The BRC put the cost of losses due to customer theft at a record £2.2 billion (opens a new window) in 2023-2024, with organised gangs systemically targeting shops across the UK. What’s more, this comes at a time when many retailers are already grappling with the rising costs of supply and employment.
But financial risks aren’t the only challenge facing employers. As staff take on greater risk at work, their wellbeing is under threat. Workers who experience hostility are more likely to suffer from stress and anxiety. This in turn can lead to an increase in absenteeism and staff turnover – two risks that routinely drive-up costs for employers. Last year, research conducted by the Retail Trust (opens a new window) found that a staggering 39% of retail workers were considering quitting the industry for this reason.
Landlords, agents, and liability
Landlords are protected from some of the immediate impacts of an unsafe workplace, but they are not immune to risk. Landlords typically have a duty to maintain the security of the premises they own (other than where properties are rented under a single FRI lease), including large commercial facilities with communal areas (e.g. shopping centres, stadia), which often comprise of several individual retail units. These duties are commonly administered through a third-party managing agent, who will appoint security, maintenance, and management teams for communal areas of the premises.
Where retailers in shopping centres suffer an increasing volume of abuse, violence, and related loss, it may increase complaints about the safety of the centre. Such claims will typically allege that the responsible party has failed in their duty to adequately service the premises, ultimately resulting in the loss. Whether it is the landlord, or their agent, who retains liability in such a scenario will typically be set out in contract. However, these claims are often subject to interpretation. It is not impossible that even where a contract places responsibility with a managing agent, the landlord is deemed to have ultimately failed in its duty by virtue of appointing the agent in question. Landlords (or their agents) may also be liable for any failure to protect their own staff from harm, and may face losses relating to theft of landlord property (e.g. furniture in un-demised areas).
Even where landlords are not liable for loss, they can still feel the ripple effects of an unsafe workplace. Both theft of goods and abuse towards staff can undermine the value and viability of retail units, deterring existing or future tenants. This can negatively impact landlords’ bottom line, and ultimately render the premises unprofitable to maintain.
These concerns are compounded by an evolving regulatory environment that is bringing greater scrutiny on landlords. Martyn’s Law (opens a new window), designed to protect retail and hospitality businesses against terror threats, places accountability on landlords for risk assessments, security plans, training and preparedness. As a result, landlords face heighted legal liabilities for non-compliance, greater exposure to employers’ liability claims, and stricter underwriting and insurance premium adjustments.
Mitigation through collaboration
The interplay between people, property, and risk means that no single party can prevent or respond to this complex threat alone. Retailers, landlords, and their agents must work collaboratively to adequately protect staff and visitors against harm, and to limit the potential for theft.
Actions include:
Ensure adequate security provision – Security staff should be positioned at the entrance to, and around key sites within, the landlord’s premises, and located within individual retail units. Technology solutions can provide an additional deterrent, including CCTV, body-worn cameras, self-checkout cameras, and facial recognition systems.
Conduct pre-incident risk assessments – This includes site-specific evaluations to identify the likelihood of an event, potential hotspots, and suitable prevention and control measures. Retailers should engage landlords, and vice versa, to understand how their respective risks intersect. Review contracts to determine liability in the wake of specific incidents.
Provide training and care – Ensure that the relevant staff are adequately training to spot and detection suspicious behaviour, respond to and de-escalate potential threats, and report incidents when they occur. Wellbeing support should be made available to those who have suffered abuse or violence at work.
Form strategic partnerships – Build relationships with allied businesses, including security firms, law enforcement agencies, brokers and insurers. Together, these parties can support retailers and landlords to rethink prevention and protection, and cross-share threat intelligence.
Maintain up to date insurance – Take out appropriate insurance coverage to cover the main threats to your business, including Employers’ Liability, Property Damage and Business Interruption /Loss of Rent Insurance. Review and update your cover on a regular basis in response to emerging threats and changing legal requirements.
Join our webinar ‘The workplace safety summit’, on 25 November at 9am, to gain a deeper insight into how leading retailers and landlords are addressing these issues in practice, and explore how investing in preventive measures can both reduce costs and benefit your employees / tenants.
