The British Chambers of Commerce said on Sunday that rising shoplifting, fraud and cyber attacks against retailers and other businesses are becoming a barrier to UK economic growth, after research found 42 per cent of firms experienced some form of crime in the past year.
The warning comes as retailers face growing losses from organised theft and high-profile cyber breaches that have disrupted operations and increased security costs across the sector. Police-recorded shoplifting offences rose 20 per cent year on year to 516,971 incidents in the 12 months to December 2024, before surpassing 530,000 by March 2025.
The BCC, which surveyed 1,411 businesses last autumn, found that 21 per cent of firms had suffered cyber attacks while 20 per cent reported fraud or scams. Larger businesses were more likely to be targeted, with 58 per cent of companies employing more than 250 staff reporting crime-related incidents, compared with 32 per cent of microbusinesses.
A series of cyber attacks against major consumer brands over the past year has heightened concerns about the financial impact of business crime. Marks & Spencer suffered a cyber attackwhich forced it to halt online orders for more than six weeks, contributing to a £324 million hit to profits, while attacks affecting Co-op and Booking.com added to pressure on customer-facing businesses.
The BCC said retail and manufacturing companies were among the sectors most exposed to criminal activity, with manufacturers reporting the highest overall levels of crime. The organisation described business crime as a “structural constraint” on economic performance and called for ministers to strengthen support for affected firms.
Ellis Shelton, policy manager at the BCC, said: “Crime against business is now a serious barrier to growth and investment across the UK.” He added that retailers and other businesses were being forced to divert “crucial time and money” away from investment and expansion in order to tackle theft, fraud and cyber threats.
According to the BCC, the government should create regional business crime hubs bringing together police and business crime reduction partnerships, introduce a single cyber attack reporting system for companies, and expand cyber resilience support for small and medium-sized enterprises. Shelton said: “Crime is becoming more sophisticated and there needs to be a step change in the support businesses can count on.”
