Plea for Warsop and Ashfield shoppers to show respect to shop workers

During the next fortnight, the retailer, which has more than 240 stores across 16 counties is supporting the Usdaw Respect for Shopworkers week and the Shopkind winter campaign.

Respect for Shopworkers week, this week, encourages shoppers to treat colleagues with the respect they deserve while serving communities.

The Shopkind winter campaign, which runs from November 22, is based on the theme of ’Tis the season to be #ShopKind.

The aim of the campaign is to recognise the sacrifice of shopworkers at Christmas and highlight the importance of thanking them and respecting them.

Safe environment

Craig Goldie, Co-op loss prevention manager, said: “Safety continues to be our top priority and we have worked together to provide a safe environment to shop and access our goods and services.

“Unfortunately, more of our retail colleagues have suffered from unacceptable verbal abuse and aggressive behaviour.

"We believe every colleague should have the right to go to work and return home safely and we continue to invest in new safety measures including personal protection devices and access to counselling services."

Recent figures from the retailer show nearly 12,000 incidents have been reported so far this year including 81 assaults, 959 cases of verbal abuse and threats, 307 anti-social behaviour reports and 160 direct incidents related to Covid-19.

This means, compared with last year, the number of incidents have jumped by 26.1 per cent, with rises in verbal abuse, threats and anti-social behaviour.

Some examples of incidents have included colleagues being punched in the face by shoplifters, verbal abuse, damage to stores, armed robberies with batons, used needles and knives and attempted thefts.

Other innovations aimed at tackling crime include the expansion of CCTV to more stores, body cameras, more tracking devices in high-risk products, the rollout of specialist software and technology to protect lone workers and new training packages and toolkits to ensure colleagues have all the information and skills they need to keep safe.

Central England Co-op stores include Mansfield Road in Skegby, Huthwaite Road in Sutton, Chapel Street and Skegby Road in Kirkby, Mansfield Road in Warsop, Selston Road in Jacksdale and Market Place in Somercotes.

Support your Chad by becoming a digital subscriber. You will see 70 per cent fewer ads on stories, meaning faster load times and an overall enhanced user experience. Click here to subscribe.