We must protect our retail staff from violent customers

In September, we joined 22 of the UK’s major retailers and associations in publishing an open letter to the Prime Minister calling for more effective legal protection for our colleagues from an ever-rising tide of abuse, threats and violence.

Our store colleagues have been working to protect customers during the pandemic.

Despite their hard work, violence and threats have become part of the job – they do not deserve this.

As a regional, independent co-operative, we’ve been tackling crime from every angle – causes, prevention, reporting and justice. Although there have been some positive steps forward, more needs to be done.

Please consider writing to your MP, signing the national petition or viewing the film we put together of our colleagues’ experiences. Information on all of these actions can be found here.

We need politicians, police and the rest of society to remember these crimes are not victimless. They affect real people.

Mark Smith, Chief executive, Southern Co-op

Picture taken from the Co-Op website