retail environment
Iceland boss compares shoplifting to daily "low level war"
The executive chair of Iceland has called on the government to take the threat of shoplifting more seriously, describing it as a daily “low level war”.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Richard Walker said that the £20 million lost to thefts each year across Iceland stores could otherwise be used for investment.
“Shoplifting sounds like cheeky pilfering, but actually it should be called violent crime because we’re talking about thieves using knives, needles, and hammers in threats to our staff,” Walker said to the newspaper.
The company has taken several measures to protect itself against shoplifting.
In August, Iceland launched a scheme that will credit shoppers with £1 on their loyalty cards if they alert staff to shoplifters.
Customers who witness a suspected theft are asked to inform the nearest employee, who will verify the incident before the reward is added to the shopper’s Bonus Card for immediate use.
At the time, Walker said that shrinkage is not a victimless crime as it keeps prices higher than they otherwise would be, adding that criminal activity is spreading to smaller towns and villages as well as large cities.
In June, Iceland announced a trial of facial recognition technology in two of its stores in the north of England with plans to expand it further later in the year.
Customers’ faces are automatically scanned against a watchlist of “subjects of interest” who are alleged to have committed an offence and who are blacklisted from stores, with any matches alerting shop staff.
The technology is provided by Facewatch, which is also providing the service to other retail brands.
At the time Jake Hurfurt, head of research and investigations at Big Brother Watch, called the move “disproportionate and chilling”.
In July, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that shoplifting in England and Wales has reached its highest level since records began, with 530,643 offences reported in the year to March 2025, a 20 per cent increase on the previous year.
The figure marks the largest number of shoplifting cases recorded since current police practices started in 2003.
