Marks and Spencer has hit out at the Mayor of London for being soft on crime, after crowds of young people have targeted London shops in the past week.
Thinus Keeve, the supermarket’s retail director, has called on Sadiq Khan to crack down on violent disorder against retailers, after a Marks and Spencer (M&S) shop in Clapham was targeted this week.
Hundreds of young people have stormed Clapham high street on multiple occasions in the past week, with police urging parents to “take responsibility” for the incidents – which are said to be fuelled by a social media trend.
Keeve claimed staff had been head butted and taken to hospital following an ammonia attack related to the disorder.
Six teenage girls have been arrested for anti-social behaviour at two separate incidents, the Met Police said.
Retail crime a ‘systemic issue’
Writing in the Telegraph, Keeve said he has written to the home secretary Shabana Mahmood and the Mayor of London, who is expected to meet with M&S in the coming days.
The supermarket director said: “In the past week alone we have had gangs forcing open locked cabinets and stripping shelves, two men brazenly emptying the shelves of steak and walking out, a large group of young people ransacking a store before assaulting a security guard, a colleague headbutted trying to defuse a situation and another hospitalised after having ammonia thrown in their face.
“We need to recognise this for what it is. A systemic issue. A growing issue. And one that demands a co-ordinated response across government, policing and industry.”
Sir Sadiq and Sir Mark Rowley, the Met Police commissioner, dismissed “lies” that London is unsafe earlier this week.
But Keeve said retailers are “powerless” to defend themselves against disorder “without a government seriously cracking down on crime and a Mayor that prioritises effective policing”.
“I keep hearing crime is falling, especially in London – something none of us believes, and very few people working in retail would see,” he said.
14m Brits witness abuse of retail workers
M&S’ external affairs director, Adam Hawksbee, claimed staff are scared to come into work because stores are being targeted by criminal gangs.
The supermarket has invested tens of millions into security but there is “only so much you can do” because retail crime is “getting worse,” he told the BBC’s Today programme.
More than 14m people in the UK have witnessed violence or abuse against retail workers in the past year, according to trade body the British Retail Consortium (BRC).
There were 1,600 incidents of violence and abuse against retail workers every day last year, on average, making 2025 the second-worst year for incidents on record.
London recorded the highest proportion (32 per cent) of people witnessing violence and abuse in shops, according to the BRC.
A spokesperson for the mayor of London said: “Shoplifting is not a victimless crime and the mayor fully supports the Met Police’s data-driven and targeted approach to tackling prolific offenders.”
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