Workers are facing violence and abuse from customers every day because Labour is ‘failing to take this issue seriously’, an industry group has warned.
Jo Causon, chief executive of the Institute of Customer Service (ICS), said ‘abuse, hostility and criminal behaviour’ towards frontline workers across retail, transport, hospitality and other sectors ‘often goes unpunished’.
Her comments come after Marks and Spencer bosses launched an astonishing broadside on the Government, and London mayor Sadiq Khan, after mobs of youngsters stormed shops and attacked staff in Clapham this week as part of coordinated ‘link-ups’ organised through social media.
Further antisocial behaviour is anticipated this weekend, with shop keepers in hotspots across the country warned to shutter down or deploy extra security in an effort to stave off disruption.
Ms Causon said the ‘shocking scenes’ this week were ‘yet another reminder’ of what workers have to endure.
She said: ‘For too many people working in customer-facing roles – whether in retail, hospitality, transport, or services – intimidation, threats, and violence have become a grim part of the working day.
‘Despite this ongoing crisis, the Government is failing to take this issue seriously.
‘When will this Government wake up and say enough is enough? Because that’s exactly what businesses and frontline workers are feeling on this issue.’
More than 300 teenagers descended on Clapham Common basketball courts on Tuesday before swarming the high street where some of them looted shops and attacked police
Jo Causon, chief executive of the Institute of Customer Service, has hit out at the Government
Latest figures from the ICS show 42% of customer‑facing workers experienced hostility or abuse from the public in the previous six months, up from 36% the previous year.
Within this group, 22% said they faced direct threats of physical violence, the highest figure on record.
And around 26% of the 1,000 workers polled said they took sick leave as a result of abuse, up from 20% the previous year.
This week M&S retail director Thinus Keeve criticised the Government and Mayor of London, describing shop owners’ efforts to protect staff as ‘powerless’ without ‘a government seriously cracking down on crime and a Mayor that prioritises effective policing’.
He has written to Sir Sadiq, and M&S chief executive Stuart Machin has contacted Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood calling for more to be done.
Adam Hawksbee, head of external affairs at M&S, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Friday: ‘Retail crime has always been a challenge, but it does feel in the past weeks and months that the problem is getting worse.’
Shoplifting offences increased in England and Wales in the year to September, but remained slightly below record levels seen in the 12 months to March 2025, the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures available show.
There were 519,381 shoplifting offences in the year to September 2025, up 5% from 492,660 the previous year.
A total of 530,439 offences were recorded in the year to March 2025.
The Crime and Policing Bill, once passed, will make assault of a retail worker an offence.
But there are concerns swathes of public-facing workers will not be protected because they fall outside of retail.
Ms Causon said: ‘The Crime and Policing Bill is a missed opportunity – while it proposes protections for some retail workers, it excludes millions of workers who deliver customer service every day and who face the same risks.
‘It’s clear that the Government is paying lip service to the problem, offering half-measures that fail to address the full scope of abuse.
‘The Government has promised action, yet we continue to see no real engagement. The legislation is insufficient and leaves key groups of workers exposed to escalating threats. The absence of a meaningful extension of protections is not just a failure to act – it’s a disregard for the safety of our essential workforce.’
Crime and Policing minister Sarah Jones described the mob-related incidents as ‘disgraceful’.
She said: ‘This mindless behaviour has no place in our society, and these criminals must face the full force of the law.’
