British discount store Poundland has announced it is cracking down on in-store crime with its biggest ever investment in anti-theft technology and security.

As part of the investment, the company said it is equipping its 800-plus store estate with "anti-theft innovation" to deter shoplifting and rolling out communication headsets so employees can communicate quickly when incidents occur.

The business is also deploying Motorola Solutions VT100 body cameras to “scores of stores” with the most significant crime issues following a successful trial across its estate.

Poundland said that the cameras provide a visual deterrent for offenders as well as recording incidents.

According to the retailer, these cameras have already seen an 11 per cent decrease in violence against its workforce and a "marked reduction in shoplifting and theft."

The body camera technology is currently available at 300 of the company's stores.

The investment comes as the retailer launches a wider ‘Against Retail Crime’ campaign, with the company’s head of loss prevention Christina Jesty revealing the rate of store theft and abuse towards colleagues has “accelerated significantly” across the company’s stores in the past 18 months.

“Whether it’s store theft undermining all our colleagues’ hard work, or incidents of violence and abuse making our colleagues feel unsafe at work, something must change," added Jesty. “At Poundland we pride ourselves on being a value-led high street retailer, where protecting our colleagues goes hand in hand with protecting our prices."

She continued: “That is why we’re saying enough is enough and beginning a campaign to support our front-line teams and crack down on retail crime across our stores.”

According to the latest crime figures from the British Retail Consortium, UK shop workers now face 1,300 incidents of violence and abuse every day, up 50 per cent on the previous year.

As part of its retail crime crackdown, Poundland is also giving its contracted security teams the backing to detain suspected offenders in stores; ensuring local police pursue prosecution for "every incident of retail crime"; and employing "significantly more" undercover guards in its stores.

The company said that a tougher line is already being taken in partnership with local police forces, with one prolific shoplifter in Gloucestershire recently charged with trespassing and burglary rather than lesser charges and receiving an 18 month custodial sentence.

Poundland is not the only UK retailer to take a harder line on growing retail crime in recent months.

In November, executive chairman of Iceland Richard Walker said he would “happily” trial legal and proportionate facial recognition to address growing retail crime.

Following a House of Lords inquiry which found that 17 million shoplifting incidents take place in the UK every year, in a LinkedIn post the Iceland boss warned that security guards are “very limited” in their ability to act against “brazen, professional criminals” who he said are are operating without fear of consequence.

Walker, who has worked at Iceland for more than six years, called for enhanced legal powers that would allow security staff to search and "safely detain offenders".

Lincolnshire Co-op also announced plans to roll out body cameras across its 99 food stores and 44 pharmacies as part of a £200,000 investment.

The move, which follows a successful trial at four locations in early 2024, aims to address an increasing levels of threats, abuse and violent incidents taking place across Lincolnshire Co-op’s stores.

The retailer said it has seen a 245 per cent increase in incidents of threats and abuse to its employees over the past five years.

Further afield, Amsterdam-based SPAR International announced in December that it had integrated retail security technology powered by artificial intelligence (AI) to thwart theft in real time and protect profit margins.

The software includes an intelligent video surveillance server that continuously analyses surveillance cameras in store, with retailers receiving automatic alerts and notifications when suspicion action is detected.

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