Retail Security Services UK

October 21, 2025

Calculating...

Santa’s Watching. So Are We: Protecting Staff and Profits This Christmas

As the festive season approaches, retailers across the UK are preparing for one of the busiest trading periods of the year. Yet alongside higher footfall and rising demand comes a threat that’s becoming impossible to ignore – retail crime.

According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) Crime Survey 2025, over 2,000 incidents of violence and abuse occur in UK stores every day. The total cost of retail crime has soared to £4.2 billion, combining both financial losses and prevention spend. It’s a crisis that affects every level of the sector, from local convenience stores to national retail chains.

Read Full BRC Crime Report 2025

Customer Theft Is Escalating

Theft remains the single largest contributor to loss, with £2.2 billion stolen last year, a 21% increase from the previous survey. More than 20 million incidents of shoplifting were recorded, and many were not opportunistic snatches; they were organised, deliberate, and often aggressive.

Increasingly, offenders are working in groups, targeting high-value items and using distraction techniques to overwhelm staff. When challenged, incidents can quickly turn violent. Shopworkers are punched, spat on, and threatened with weapons, creating real fear and long-term emotional harm.

For retailers, these losses don’t just hit profit margins. They drain staff morale, increase turnover, and damage customer confidence. The message is clear: the industry needs stronger, smarter protection.

Staff Safety Is Under Threat

Retail staff face the frontline of this crisis every day. Many experience abuse while confronting shoplifters, including racist and misogynistic attacks. The fear and trauma are real. No one should go to work worrying they might be hurt just for doing their job.

Supermarket retailers also highlight a specific risk during the winter months: “darker nights.” As evenings get darker earlier, colleagues walking home after shifts become more vulnerable. To address this, retailers invest heavily in crime prevention during these months. The focus is not just on protecting profits, but primarily on keeping staff safe. These measures ensure teams feel supported and protected, even outside store hours, reflecting a strong commitment to employee safety.

Christmas Creates the Perfect Storm

The festive season brings joy, but it also brings challenges. Longer trading hours, seasonal staff, and packed aisles create the perfect conditions for opportunistic theft and antisocial behaviour. As footfall increases, the risk of incidents rises too, especially for retailers without dedicated, proactive protection.

This is when prevention matters most. Having the right security partner ensures you can keep your staff, stock, and customers safe without disrupting the shopping experience. Our retail security solutions are tailored to each store’s needs, from discreet store detectives to uniformed guards and real-time monitoring.

Retail Security team protecting shop

Professional Security: Your Front Line This Festive Season

At Professional Security, our retail security services are designed specifically for the demands of modern retail environments. Through a combination of uniformed officers, store detectives, and our 24/7 Security Operations Centre (SOC), we deliver comprehensive protection that adapts to your store’s needs.

Here’s how we help retailers stay safe and compliant during peak trading weeks:

Targeted theft reduction: Our officers are deployed strategically to high-risk zones, acting as a visible deterrent and providing immediate response when incidents occur.
Enhanced reporting and visibility: Every incident is logged in real time and integrated into your asset-protection or incident-management systems, helping identify patterns and repeat offenders.
Customer-focused professionalism: We train our teams to blend safety with service. They manage risk discreetly while maintaining a welcoming atmosphere for customers.
Intelligence-led SOC support: Our Security Operations Centre monitors live incidents across the UK, coordinating rapid responses and supporting officers on the ground.

Together, these measures form a layered defence that protects your staff, customers, and profits – not just at Christmas, but year-round.

Retail Crime Theft Campaign

Santa’s Watching. So Are We.

This festive season, our campaign shows that Professional Security isn’t just about guards on the floor – it’s about active monitoring, rapid response, and protecting your staff and customers during the busiest weeks of the year.

Get in touch today to review your retail security plan and make sure your business is protected this Christmas.