Independent retailers welcome Winter of Action to tackle high street crime

Bira has welcomed the Government's Winter of Action initiative to crack down on crime in town centres across the country.

Bira has given its support to the nationwide crackdown that will see police, councils and businesses unite to protect shoppers and retail workers during the crucial Christmas trading period.

The initiative builds on the Safer Streets Summer campaign, which delivered visible policing in over 640 town centres and resulted in over 16,000 arrests and fines, primarily for shop theft and antisocial behaviour.

Andrew Goodacre, CEO of Bira, said: "Bira welcomes this new initiative. We all want to see our high streets made safer. We support the particular focus on repeat offenders of retail crime - removing these perpetrators will make a positive difference to shop owners. In the longer term we hope that these events will be replaced by a significant increase in police on our high streets during the whole year."

The Winter of Action will see police use hotspot patrols, quick visible enforcement and locally tailored approaches in partnership with businesses and community groups to tackle shop theft, street crime and antisocial behaviour.

The Government has also announced that from spring next year there will be 3,000 additional officers in neighbourhood policing roles, with new powers to tackle shop theft through the Crime and Policing Bill, including a specific offence of assaulting a retail worker and ending the effective immunity for theft of goods of and under £200.

You can find out more about Winter of Action here.

Get ahead of retail crime in the run up to Christmas...

We've put together a comprehensive guide to getting ahead in the Christmas Rush - which includes a key resource on how retailers can mitigate against crime during this time.

Find out more and get the full resource below.

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"It looks like our unit will cost us approximately £5,000 more next year."

Has the Budget ended up costing your business more?

Our members have already started the conversation over on the forum, which you can access by simply logging into the Bira website. See what fellow retailers think of this Budget and have your say over on Bira Connect.

See the forum post

Bira's advocacy takes your voice to the heart of Parliament

Bira is at the forefront of championing the cause of independent traders and shopkeepers across Britain.

Our campaigns cover a wide spectrum of issues crucial to the success of independent traders including:

Combatting the rising tide of retail crime
Advocating for changes in legislation that promote fairness and flexibility
Fighting for fairer business rates
Overall reducing the regulatory burden

Learn more about our advocacy efforts

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