Coffee shop chain Pret A Manger has announced some staff members will wear body-worn cameras as a new safety measure.
The company confirmed to Sky News that six shops across London started trialling the new technology last month, which will only be worn by team leaders and managers.
It said the cameras will only be switched on in “specific circumstances” and footage will only be accessible to Pret’s security team.
The introduction of the extra safety measure comes as companies reported increasing cases of shoplifting and aggressive behaviour towards staff in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shoplifting has reached record highs in the UK with 16.7 million incidents recorded last year – more than double compared with 2022.
In a bid to tackle the crime, retailers have spent around £1.8bn on measures such as CCTV, security personnel and bodyworn cameras, according to a survey by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) in February.
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Lidl recently spent £2m on body cameras for staff in all of its UK stores, while English Heritage – which manages historic sites across the country – has also deployed a similar tactic.
The BRC also reported a 50% increase in violence and abuse towards retail workers.
An estimated 1,300 incidents occurred daily in 2022 into 2023, a rise of 50% from 870 the year before, the BRC said.