Editor’s comment: Not part of the job

But there was a darker side to the findings too, with 40% of stores recording an increase in violence and abuse. Retailers I have spoken to over the past few weeks report customers ‘kicking off’ over trivial issues such as not being able to get hold of flour or yeast, or (in the early days of lockdown) being restricted in the number of items they were allowed to buy. There have also been incidents of staff being spat or coughed at, and sometimes assaulted, examples of which have been posted by retailers on social media in order to shame the culprits and demonstrate the kind of behaviour they have been subject to. Persistent shop thieves have even been using Covid-related threats to intimidate staff.

It may only be one in 100 customers that kicks off in such a manner, but every incident adds to the strain on store owners and their staff who have been working long hours under great pressure. It’s a situation that’s clearly having an effect on workers, as can be seen by the fact that calls to GroceryAid’s emergency helpline have risen by 100% over the past few weeks. And, of course, this is not an issue that has arisen purely as a consequence of the coronavirus crisis. The ACS Crime Report 2020 shows 83% of people who work in the convenience sector have been subjected to verbal abuse over the last year and there were more than 50,000 incidents, with 25% of them resulting in injury.
One good thing that may come out of the crisis is greater recognition of the key role that c-stores play within our communities, a fact that throws the issue of violence and abuse into even sharper relief. We should take this opportunity to push even harder for additional legal protection for shop workers who are simply doing their job.

David Shrimpton, Editor