Central England Co-op condemns attempted attack on colleague in Nottingham
Posted by rob smyth | Published: 07/12/2020
Central England Co-op has reaffirmed its campaign calling for better protection for colleagues dealing with would-be criminals after an attempted attack on a colleague in Nottingham.
The retailer is reinforcing its message that violence and aggression towards staff will ‘not be tolerated’ after an incident involving a shoplifter at its Bramcote Lane store last night (6 December).
After being asked to leave the store, the man became aggressive and aimed a kick at one of the colleagues.
Thankfully, he missed and fled the store after police were called. The colleague in question is shaken but not hurt and the team is working with the local police and supporting its investigation.
Craig Goldie, Loss Prevention Manager, said: “Everyone at Central England Co-op was shocked and appalled by yet another unacceptable incident this time in our Bramcote Lane store.
“We strongly condemn any form of abuse or violence towards our colleagues who are just doing their job and are working closely with the local police force in order to find those responsible.
“This type of incident reinforces our ongoing campaign calling for better protection for shopworkers and highlights our zero tolerance policy on all types of crime aimed at our colleagues and customers.
“Once again, we are sending a clear message out to anyone who might consider targeting our colleagues and stores – it is not worth the risk and no crime will be tolerated.”
This comes just days after the retailer issued its ‘not worth the risk’ warning to criminals as part of an ongoing campaign to keep colleagues and customers safe as the nights draw in and Covid-19 restrictions continue.
The coming months will see Central England Co-op increasing a range of different measures in stores including; expanding a service it uses that allows colleagues, at the touch of the button, to call for assistance, and putting tracking devices in more products to deter would-be thieves.
This will sit alongside a recently launched trial of body worn cameras which, if successful, could be rolled out across all stores.
Overall, this year, verbal abuse has jumped by 175%, assaults by 34% and threats by 12% compared to 2019.
It can also be revealed that a total of 279 crimes related directly to Covid-19 have been recorded in stores.
Notes to editors
About Central England Co-operative
Central England Co-operative is one of the largest independent retail co-operative societies in the UK with interests in food, funeral, floral, travel and property investment.
Co-operatives have always been there for their communities; they were formed to protect them and help them flourish.
Our 7,900 colleagues who serve Members and customers work hard to ensure that co-operative values, principles and spirit flow through everything we do to help support and improve our local communities.
Owned by hundreds of thousands of Members, we have over 430 trading outlets across 16 counties including West Midlands, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.
We are proud of our reputation for ethical business practices and corporate responsibility.
We invest a percentage of our trading profit into local communities through our Community Dividend Fund scheme, have donated over £1.3 million to our corporate charity partner Dementia UK and also operate a pioneering food redistribution partnership with FareShare Midlands so unsold food goes to those in need.
Visit www.centralengland.coop for more information or follow us on Facebook or Twitter using @mycoopfood
Press office contacts: Rob Smyth and James Brindle
Phone - 01543 421390
Email - publicrelations@centralengland.coop