A Friday Afternoon on the Frontline
A tense Friday afternoon at Coventry's West Orchards Shopping Centre is shattered by urgent radio calls. Security guards scramble to deal with two separate ‘kamikaze’ shoplifters, caught within seconds of each other. This is the stark reality of the UK's retail crime epidemic.
Descending several levels into a storage area at the Iceland store, the scene unfolds. One suspected thief appears pale and subdued, standing a few paces from his intended spoils: a hand basket filled with Lurpak butter. Outside, a more aggressive drama is playing out. An agitated man, caught with a bag full of stolen Cathedral City Cheddar, is being apprehended.
He swears violently at the five guards present, flexing his arms as if ready to fight. The situation escalates rapidly, culminating in three members of the security team pinning him to the floor while they await police arrival. The confrontation is a shocking glimpse into the desperation and aggression faced by those on the frontline.
The Constant Battle for Security Teams
In a management suite overlooking the bustling mall, senior asset manager Andy Talbot lays bare the scale of the problem. ‘The experience with retail crime is horrendous,’ he states. ‘It’s a constant battle for the team.’
The financial toll is immense. The business spends over half a million pounds a year on security staff, a cost ultimately borne by the retailers and their customers. At the heart of their operation is a sophisticated control room monitoring the centre with 130 cameras, equipped with analytical capabilities to spot unusual behaviour.
Andy explains the diverse motives behind the thefts: ‘You have everything from children stealing sweets to shoplifters targeting more expensive items such as packs of cheese, ham and beef. There are members of the older generation stealing to eat because of the current economic climate, there are people who are stealing to order, and people stealing to feed a habit.’
A critical issue highlighted is the lack of police resources. ‘We report crimes and we may get a crime reference number that’s generally as far as it goes,’ Andy says. ‘We rarely have the police come out unless it’s a very serious incident.’ This means the same offenders often return, despite banning orders.
Personal Experiences from the Frontline
Security manager Lewis Greaves knows the dangers firsthand. Several years ago, he was slashed in the arm with a blade while breaking up a gang fight involving teenagers. ‘I realised afterwards that one of them had slashed my arm,’ he recalls, an injury that required hospital treatment.
Lewis describes the vast range of incidents his team handles, from minor thefts to large-scale organised crime and individuals in mental health crisis. His motivation, however, remains strong. ‘It sounds quite soppy... but we want to make a difference. This is our city... we want to make it a better place for people.’
The team's dedication is tested daily. The call about the two shoplifters in Iceland follows a sensitive situation where Lewis and officer Saf Choudhry had been calmly talking a woman through a mental health crisis in the mall's toilets.
A National Crisis in Numbers
The events in Coventry mirror a national picture. Police in England and Wales recorded a total of 529,994 cases of shoplifting in the year ending June 2025, a staggering increase of 13 per cent according to the Office for National Statistics.
In response to the surge, the Federation of Independent Retailers has called for government grants to help smaller stores boost security. The government has launched a Tackling Retail Crime Together Strategy, aiming to use shared data to catch perpetrators at all levels.
Back in the Iceland storage room, the immediate crisis is resolved. Police arrived promptly on this occasion, arresting both men. The aggressive suspect was eventually restrained by the team, his 11 packs of Cathedral City left behind on a shelf amongst the Pot Noodles and Haribos. For the security team at West Orchards, it was just another afternoon in a relentless, exhausting, and often dangerous battle.
