Britain’s shoplifting epidemic costing Primark more in losses than it pays in business rates

BRITAIN'S shoplifting epidemic is costing Primark more in losses than it pays in business rates, its boss says.

George Weston said shoplifting had become “socially acceptable . . . with thieves facing no consequences”.

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Mr. Weston, chief exec of Primark’s parent company Associated British Foods, added: “The cost of shoplifting is now bigger than our bill for rates.”

Primark pays around £70 million a year in business rates for its UK shops.

The charge has long been criticised as a costly archaic burden that puts bricks and mortar retailers at an unfair disadvantage to online rivals.

The Confederation of British Industry has put fixing the “antiquated business tax system once and for all” at the top of its Budget demands.

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But Primark’s admission that shoplifting now costs the business more than rates underlines the scale of the crime.

Official figures recently showed shoplifting had hit a 20-year high but only 14 per cent of cases result in prosecution.

Mr. Weston said shoplifting had rocketed because “organised criminals steal on demand and sell the goods on”.

He said there had also been a “general increase in casual theft”.

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He welcomed Home Secretary Yvette Cooper’s plans to crack down on shoplifting and scrap the £200 rule, which allows thieves to be charged with a summary-only offence if they steal goods worth less than £199.

Mr. Weston said: “The state needs to step in.

“We can put cameras in and tighten our security but at the end it is a societal issue, so the solution has to be one of policy.”

Primark is already part of Project Pegasus, which uses retailers’ CCTV footage and AI recognition tools to identify prolific shoplifters.

Mr. Weston’s warning came alongside Primark reporting that gloomy summer weather had knocked sales by 3.1 per cent in the three months to September 14.

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But he said the recent cooler weather is likely to drive higher sales of its autumn fashions, including its new collection with singer Rita Ora,

The wet weather also caused havoc with ABF’s sugar arm as wet fields created a bumper harvest of sugarbeet, which pushed down prices.

Currys in Euros TV sale win

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Euros fever boosted Currys as the electricals retailer sold more TVs to football fans keen to watch on a bigger screen.

The firm posted a 5 per cent rise in sales during the 17 weeks to the end of August and hailed an “improving consumer environment”.

Currys said more shoppers were coming back to its stores to learn about its new artificial-intelligence-powered products.

Laptop releases by Microsoft include software that can do real-time translations, video-call-editing and easy searches through documents.

Chief Executive Alex Baldock said: “New AI-enabled computers are bringing excitement and innovation to customers, who are coming to our stores to learn more about the technology, helping us take almost 50 per cent share of the total laptop market.”

Currys earlier this year rejected a £757 million takeover offer and it is now valued at £898.2 million.

Up for a late one

Holidaymakers are leaving it later than ever to book last-minute deals, Jet2 says.

It said it could not give guidance on profits as bookings were coming in so much later than normal.

The low-cost airline revealed it had sold 8 per cent more package holidays than the previous year as cost-savvy Brits want to stick to a budget.

And the growth of its holidays business meant 70 per cent of its passengers also have a package trip with Jet2.

White Van Fan

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White van man is back — as August sales hit the highest level since 2021.

Industry figures show van registrations rose by an annual 1.7 per cent last month to 16,575.

But the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said that the market for smaller-size vans was up in August by 24.5 per cent on the previous year as demand continues to increase.

However, the number of battery electric vans slumped by 30 per cent year-on-year to just 908 in the past month.

The cheapest mortgage rate has fallen to the lowest level since 2022’s mini-Budget market meltdown.

NatWest cut its five-year fixed rate to 3.71 per cent, the lowest in two years.

Costs are being lowered after the Bank of England cut the base rate.

‘V’ For Vistry

Britain’s biggest housebuilder Vistry said yesterday that it was constructing a record number of homes this year and was on track to complete more than 18,000 sales.

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It has flogged 7,792 so far, 9 per cent more than 2023 — in sharp contrast to rival Barratt which, a day earlier, said its current slump would take at least two years to overcome.

Vistry boss Greg Fitzgerald said its growth strategy was “well-aligned” to the Government’s ambition to address the UK’s housing crisis.