Volumatic shows support for new law protecting shop workers

This article is brought to you by Retail Technology Review: Volumatic shows support for new law protecting shop workers.

Cash management company, Volumatic, has welcomed the Government’s announcement that assaulting a shop worker will be made a standalone criminal offence in England and Wales.

The move to create this new offence follows a longstanding campaign by some of the UK’s biggest retailers, calling for more action to help protect the staff, which was supported by MP Matt Vickers.

Volumatic has long supported retailers, like the Co-op Food Group¹, by supplying intelligent cash handling solutions that also help enhance security and knows how hard some stores have been hit by the rise in both shoplifting and assaults. 

James Harris, MD at Volumatic said: “Volumatic has always supported the retail community and we are always here to help retailers combat crime however we can. Many of our current retail customers have shared with us how serious and frequent these crimes have become, and lots of them have turned to us in recent months to request even more secure devices and security enhancement products, which we’ve been happy to help them with.

“The use of security devices like ours, paired with CCTV is already helping protect retail businesses, and we are glad to hear the government and the police are responding positively and decisively to this upturn in crime with the introduction of this new bill and we hope shop workers will start to feel safer as the new offence comes into being and starts to take effect.”

The Government will introduce the new offence in its Criminal Justice Bill, currently being considered by Parliament.

Paul Gerrard, Campaigns and Public Affairs Director of The Co-op Group, who has seen the rise in offences against shop workers first-hand, said: “We have long called for a standalone offence of attacking or abusing a shopworker and so we very much welcome the Government’s announcement today. The Co-op will redouble our work with police forces, but these measures will undoubtedly, when implemented, keep our shopworkers safer, protect the shops they work in and help the communities both serve.”