The ‘Don’t Put Up With It’ campaign to support retailers facing abuse and violence has been revamped to raise awareness of the growing impact of retail crime in Scotland, and across the UK.
The campaign seeks to provide information and guidance for retailers about the support available through the Protection of Workers (Retail) Act 2021 and charitable organisations such as Grocery Aid. While also raising public awareness of the impact of crime on local businesses and shop staff.
The renewal of the campaign by Retailers Against Crime (RAC) and the Scottish Grocers’ Federation, has been welcomed by the Minister for Victims and Community Safety Siobhian Brown MSP.
She said: “I fully support the Don’t Put Up with It! campaign, which calls for everyone to respect retailers and encourages shop workers to report all incidents of retail crime to Police Scotland. Retail workers provide an invaluable service to all of us and any kind of abuse or violence is completely unacceptable.
“The Protection of Workers Act gives specific protection to shop workers by making it an offence to threaten or abuse them, as well as providing further legal protections when the worker is carrying out statutory duties such as age verification.”
SGF Chief Exec, Dr Pete Cheema OBE, added: “The unfortunate truth is that it’s more than just shop windows that are being shattered, it’s people’s lives and livelihoods. In some cases, the trauma can have a serious impact on the wellbeing of the individual, their family, and their community.
“We need to see much more being done to tackle the increase in retail crime and anti-social behaviour of the past few years. The Don’t Put Up With It! campaign has an important role to play in both raising awareness about the issue and providing much needed support for retailers.”
RAC Managing Director Maxine Fraser said: “People should not have to go to work in their local community and experience threatening and abusive behaviour on a regular basis, often escalating to violence. It’s simply not acceptable.
“We have a simple message to everyone who is faced with the terrible impact of retail crime on their business and staff, Don’t Put Up With It! Report it!”
