You’ve made a huge difference to retail workers everywhere

You helped change the law and made a huge difference to retail workers everywhere

Thanks to the support of Co-op Members, assault against shopworkers is now a standalone offence. Find out how you’ve made a huge difference to retail workers everywhere.

Thanks to Co-op Members assault against shopworkers is now a standalone offence

For the past 8 years, Co-op Members and Colleague Members from across the UK have been part of our campaign to ask the Government to take the impact of retail crime on people and communities seriously.

On 29 April 2026, the Crime and Policing Act gained Royal Assent, meaning assault against shopworkers is now a standalone offence.

This is the result of an 8-year campaign involving tens of thousands of Co-op Members and colleagues lobbying the UK Government for a change in the law. Police are now able to prosecute, with a possible sentence of six months imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine.

This is a huge milestone for all retail workers, giving them the protections they deserve in a backdrop where retail crime has sadly become a more prevalent societal issue.

Now, we can see all the voices our Co-op, our Members and our Colleagues come to fruition as all this incredible work finally becomes a reality.

We had an opportunity to have a voice at the table, and it made a tangible and real difference. We all should take pride in what we have helped achieve together, and let’s always remember this moment, where we helped make true societal change where it really matters.

Paul Gerrard. Director of Campaigns, Public Affairs and Policy at Co-op

More about the changes

Assault against retail workers is now officially a standalone offence, with a possible sentence of six months imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine.

Alongside this, the act has repealed legislation that classified theft under the value of £200 as a summary-only offence, which now means theft of any amount is illegal and offenders can be properly prosecuted.

These protections come at a welcome time for our Co-op. We’ve seen overall retail crime levels fall faster than the national average – down 21%* over the same period. We’ve also seen physical attacks on our colleagues fall by almost a third year-on-year (31%), and anti-social behaviour and abuse down 36% (YOY).

Whilst these are great results and showcases the hard work we have been doing to combat retail crime in our stores, the unfortunate reality is that crime still happens every day in our stores. Now that these standalone offences are in place, what we hope to see is an even bigger drop in the level of crime in our stores, especially ones that involve abuse against our colleagues.

More about our campaign

The Crime and Policing Act is what we’ve been campaigning for together since 2018 when we backed Alex Norris MP’s Assault on Retail Workers Bill. Over the last 8 years, we’ve:

• Mobilised tens of thousands of members, colleagues and customers, asking them to write to their local MPs, sharing their voice about how important new retail worker protections are to them.

• Hosted hundreds of MPs with visits to our stores, speaking to our colleagues on the ground to see how crime affects them day to day.

• Been featured on every major media channel and publication talking about retail crime and showcasing the case for change, including Radio 4’s Today, This Morning, BBC Breakfast, LBC, The Mirror, The Express, the Guardian and more.

• Given evidence to Parliament half a dozen times, demonstrating the realities of retail crime and the importance to grant all retail workers more protections.

• Published a ground-breaking report which set out a ten-point plan to turn the tide on prolific offenders and address the alarming increase in crime, violence, intimidation, and abuse that continues to affect us all.

• Seen democracy in action - our members also voted in favour of our motion to strengthen our work on our Safer Colleagues Safer Communities at the AGM in 2019.