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The revelation that nearly 30,000 shoplifting offences are committed by only 270 repeat offenders is a shocking statistic that clearly lays out the public safety, security and operational challenges retailers face.

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More broadly, the British Retail Consortium reported that there were around 1,600 incidents of violence and abuse against retail workers every day last year.

Having worked in frontline security and trained 400,000 security guards over the last two decades, I recognise this reality. And the guards I train, who are employed to protect supermarkets and high street stores, know the scale of the problem because they live it on every shift, day in, day out.

Being a guard is a lonely existence. You work for a company whose headquarters you’re unlikely to ever visit. You may mix with store colleagues, but you’re unlikely to wear the same uniform and share that bond of........

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