Shoplifting in the UK has reached crisis levels, with retailers and police alike grappling with a surge in thefts that shows no sign of abating. The problem, which has intensified since the Covid-19 pandemic, is not just about missing merchandise—it’s about violence, organized crime, and a criminal justice system struggling to keep up. Recent high-profile cases, including the conviction of serial thief Rachael Cole, underscore how both individuals and criminal gangs are fueling an epidemic that is costing businesses dearly and changing the face of British high streets.
According to the BBC, Rachael Cole, aged 44, was sentenced to 36 weeks in jail after admitting to four counts of theft at Basingstoke Magistrates Court last week. Between November 10 and December 1, 2025, Cole stole £964 worth of goods from shops in Hook and Liphook—a spree that included stealing seven bags of dog food from Sainsbury's in Liphook while disguised in a wig. Upon her release, Cole will face a two-year criminal behaviour order that bans her from wearing wigs, hair pieces, or any face coverings that conceal her appearance when entering shops. She is also prohibited from entering any Sainsbury's or Tesco store in the UK, as well as the B&M store in Bordon. If asked to leave a shop in Hampshire or Surrey, she must comply immediately and without aggression, and she cannot return to the same shop on the same day.
East Hampshire Inspector Matt Wake commented, "Cole repeatedly and brazenly steals from local businesses, even going as far as to making a poor attempt at disguising herself with a wig to try and deceive police and shop owners." He added, "Where shoplifting is reported to us, we make every effort to identify and arrest offenders, and use other tactics such as applying for CBOs to limit re-offending."
But Cole’s case, while dramatic, is just one thread in a much larger tapestry. Police data paints a grim picture. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reports that shoplifting offences in England and Wales rose by 13% in the year to June 2025, reaching a staggering 529,994 recorded incidents. Scotland saw an even sharper increase, with the Scottish Government reporting a 15% rise, from 42,271 to 48,564 offences in the year ending September 2025. Northern Ireland, meanwhile, experienced a 3.9% reduction in shoplifting offences for the year to November 2025, but this comes after significant increases since the pandemic.
Cleveland, which includes Stockton-on-Tees, Middlesbrough, and Redcar, now holds the unenviable title of England and Wales’s shoplifting capital. According to BBC News, the area recorded 13.6 shop theft offences per 1,000 residents. For shopkeepers like Muhammed Rabani in Stockton-on-Tees, the effects are felt daily. "It's every day," Rabani told the BBC, estimating losses of around £900 a month for his family business. The threat isn’t just financial—Rabani recently suffered a cut to his hand after confronting a shoplifter who tried to steal a box of chocolates. "I told him to stop... and he hit me," he recounted.
The festive season brings even more challenges. Retailers are bracing for a surge in thefts as demand for stolen goods rises. Criminologist Professor Emmeline Taylor from City St George’s, University of London, explained, "We always see a spike in the run-up to Christmas—there's a huge demand for stolen goods." She also highlighted that the nature of shoplifting is evolving: "They might not have really dabbled in criminality before, but for some reason, they've latched on to a particular product that they know is easy to steal, it's high value and they can resell it quickly." Items like collectable Jellycats toys, perfume, and designer clothes are now frequent targets for resale online.
Organized criminal gangs are increasingly involved, with some groups using distraction techniques to steal en masse. According to the National Business Crime Solution (NBCS), 63 organized criminal groups have been tracked across the UK, responsible for at least £2.4 million worth of stolen goods over five years. Of these, 26 are from the UK and Ireland, with the rest predominantly from Eastern Europe. Lucy Whing, crime policy adviser for the British Retail Consortium (BRC), noted, "You hear of these gangs systemically hitting stores one after another all over the country."
Retailers have responded by investing heavily in security. The BRC reports a record £1.8 billion spent on crime prevention in the year to June 2024, including CCTV and security guards. Initiatives like Project Pegasus, funded by major retailers to the tune of £600,000, have helped bring offenders responsible for £8 million of theft to justice in its first year, according to the National Police Chiefs Council.
But despite these efforts, many shopkeepers feel unsupported. Nearly 290,000 shoplifting investigations out of about 520,000 were closed with no suspect identified in 2024-25, according to House of Commons Library research cited by the Liberal Democrats. The average time for a shoplifting case to be resolved in magistrates' court has also increased—from 32 days in 2014 to 59 days in 2024.
Professor Taylor believes this lack of swift consequence is at the heart of the problem: "There appears to be no consequence if you steal and if you're violent, and if you're a prolific offender it takes a long time for any action to actually be taken." Former Detective Chief Inspector David Spencer, now at Policy Exchange, warned, "This type of crime has the potential to completely knock out the economic viability of small towns."
The government has responded with a flurry of initiatives. October 2023 saw the launch of the Retail Crime Action Plan, pledging urgent police response where violence is used, where repeat offenders are detained, or where evidence must be secured swiftly. The government has also announced a "Winter of Action" to crack down on crime, promising 3,000 more neighbourhood policing officers by spring 2026. A new crime bill is in the works to toughen penalties for thefts under £200 and to make assaulting a retail worker a specific offence—moves welcomed by the BRC.
Still, skepticism remains. Many in retail doubt these measures will be enough. Rabani, for instance, didn’t report the assault against him. "I didn't think anything would be done," he admitted. For him and countless others, confronting shoplifters is simply "just a part of working there."
Some experts and former offenders argue that tougher sentences alone won’t solve the problem. Keeley Knowles, a reformed shoplifter from Telford, Shropshire, believes jail is a "waste of resources" for those with addiction issues, advocating instead for targeted recovery programmes. Professor Taylor agrees that short sentences are "really ineffective and most people come out worse than they went in." On the other hand, Spencer insists that organized criminals should face "lengthy periods of time" in jail, not suspended or community sentences.
With Christmas approaching, the battle against shoplifting looks set to intensify. While new policies and investments offer hope, the reality for many shopkeepers is that the threat remains ever-present and the solutions, for now, are slow in coming.
