7 August 2024
Holland & Barrett has expanded its ongoing investment in loss and theft prevention by investing in the latest crime prevention technology across its store network and partnering with Auror to introduce its industry-leading retail crime reporting software.
Increasing levels of crime are affecting the retail industry with global Auror data confirming there has been a 178 per cent increase in repeat offenders since 2021 in the UK and the Office for National Statistics reporting that shoplifting is at its highest level in 20 years. This means retailers are increasingly seeing the need to collaborate on new solutions to monitor and report incidents in their stores to UK policing.
As the UK’s leading health and wellness retailer, with a presence on almost every high street, Holland & Barrett is committed to keeping its stores safe spaces to shop and work. Alongside investment in the Auror platform, it is continuing to roll out body cameras for colleagues in 80 stores, which are proven to be effective at de-escalating and deterring shoplifting. It also has live, remote CCTV monitoring in its busiest stores, and local security/guarding in around 200 stores.
Since launching the Auror platform earlier this year, over 8,000 incidents have been reported in H&B stores, including theft, and concerningly, acts of aggression or violence against colleagues. With a focus on repeat offenders, H&B has effectively been able to identify over 630 repeat offenders with a bank of evidence to report to police and better support positive prosecutions from the police and keep communities safer.
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.”
Mark Gleeson, VP UK & Ireland at Auror, said: “The technology allows H&B 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, H&B’s security teams can respond more swiftly and effectively to report incidents in its stores, as well as encourage collaboration with UK Policing.”
H&B is already collaborating with numerous Police Authorities in the UK through the use of the Auror platform. Due to the success of that work, H&B is also writing to UK Policing to ask members to register for secure Policing access to the Auror platform. With more officers collaborating with retailers like H&B, all parties can work together more effectively to continue to reduce crime in communities across the UK.
Auror is widely recognised as an industry leading solution to help reduce incidents of abuse and reduce retail crime by enabling store teams to quickly report incidents, as well focussing on repeat offenders, and allowing seamless collaboration with law enforcement.
The Auror platform enables retailers to report incidents of crime occurring in their stores after the event; leveraging technology quickly and efficiently share that report with UK policing. Global Auror data shows, on average, 10 per cent of offenders are responsible for 60 per cent of crime, so increased reporting will provide both retailers and Police better visibility of crime, and the ability to focus on that top 10 percent causing the most violence and loss in our communities.