Shops invited to course to tackle increasing issue of shoplifting
A new course is being launched to help county retailers tackle the increasingly costly problem of shoplifting.
Shropshire Chamber of Commerce is joining forces with West Mercia Police to run the half-day session in Shrewsbury on Friday, March 8.
The course is funded through Shropshire Chamber of Commerce’s ‘UKSPF Team Upskilling Programme’, so is ‘free’ for eligible small and medium enterprises in the Shropshire Council local authority area.
It will be running from 2pm to 5pm at University Centre Shrewsbury in Frankwell Quay.
Amanda Gosling, project and training co-ordinator at the Chamber, said: “Shop thefts have more than doubled in the past three years, and the British Retail Consortium says they are now costing traders nearly £1 billion a year.
“This course will cover many practical areas, including preventative measures, the use of CCTV and facial recognition security systems, and new ways of working collaboratively with the police.
“It will also look at how to make complaint statements, best practice for reporting retail crime, and explore alternative ‘out of court disposals’ to investigations, police processes for shoplifting investigations, and civil orders.”
Eligible small or medium-sized businesses must submit their application in advance to attend, and places are on a first-come, first-served basis. For more details, email projects@shropshire-chamber.co.uk
Amanda added: “West Mercia Police want to hear about any concerns businesses have regarding response times to retail crime, as well as retailers’ suggestions of ways they could improve their shoplifting investigations.
“Whether you are attending the event on March 8 or not, you are invited to complete a survey on issues such as satisfaction and confidence levels in relation to the police’s handling to retail crime.”
The survey can be found at surveymonkey.com/r/KMZLCP2
