Holland & Barrett combats retail theft as it calls for "greater collaboration" with UK Policing

Holland & Barrett has introduced new crime prevention technology across 700 stores as it issues an open letter to UK Policing to encourage "greater collaboration" against retail crime.

As part of this, the retailer is also continuing to roll out body cameras for colleagues in 80 stores, alongside live, remote CCTV monitoring in its busiest locations, and local security in around 200 stores.

It comes as rising levels of crime continues to impact the retail industry, with a 178% uplift in repeat offenders since 2021. On average, 10% of offenders are also responsible for 60% of crime.

Mark Williams, Head of Loss Prevention at Holland & Barrett, said: "This investment in loss prevention reflects our steadfast commitment to making our stores safer for our customers and colleagues.

"We recognise that retail crime is a community problem and working collaboratively to adopt the latest new technology can help us to create better impact – faster."

Holland & Barrett is also writing to UK Policing to ask members to register for secure access to retail crime intelligence and loss prevention platform, Auror.

With more officers collaborating with retailers like Holland & Barrett, it said all parties can "work together more effectively to continue to reduce crime in communities across the UK".

Auror helps reduce incidents of abuse and reduce retail crime by enabling store teams to quickly report incidents, as well focussing on repeat offenders, and allowing collaboration with law enforcement. As part of this, the platform allows businesses to report incidents of crime occurring in their stores after the event.

Mark Gleeson, Vice President at Auror UK & Ireland, said: "The technology allows Holland & Barrett colleagues to report crime, and better understand their repeat offenders causing the most violence and loss in their stores.

"By focussing on identifying the top 10% of offenders causing the most violence and loss, Holland & Barrett's security teams can respond more swiftly and effectively to report incidents in its stores, as well as encourage collaboration with UK Policing."