he John Lewis Partnership (JLP) stated it's dealing with a £12 million soar in the price of shoplifting as bosses on the retail large blamed a surge in organised crime.

Dame Sharon White, chairwoman of the division retailer proprietor, informed reporters that the latest spate in shoplifting at shops was pushed by “crime groups” reasonably than thefts linked to the hovering value of dwelling.

The boss stated she met with Sir Mark Rowley, commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, earlier this week to debate shoplifting.

The retailer known as on the Government to vary laws within the England and Wales to make it a legal offence to abuse shopworkers, in step with present guidelines in Scotland.

Last month, the group’s grocery store arm Waitrose stated it was providing free tea and occasional to law enforcement officials in an effort to spice up their presence round shops.

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The firm stated it primarily noticed an increase in the price of crime because of theft, in addition to “related wastage”.

Ms White stated: “Like other retailers, we have seen more activity linked to organised crime.

“We have raised the issue because the safety of our staff is incredibly important, as a business we also feel this is an important issue from a societal point of view.”

German low cost grocery store chain Lidl stated individually on Thursday that it was stepping up funding in retailer safety amid rising charges of shoplifting, by ramping up CCTV protection and rolling out extra body-worn cameras in its retailers.

Ryan McDonnell, chief government of Lidl’s British enterprise, stated it was a “social issue” that the trade is working collectively to deal with.

He stated: “There’s no doubt that it’s affecting the whole industry and we are not immune to it.

“The safety and security of our workers is a priority.

“We are working with the British Retail Consortium with the rest of our competitors in the sector coming together to look at how we can tackle it.

“We welcome the engagement from the Government and the police.”