Business robberies across Greater Manchester more than doubled in 2025, going against the wider crime trend and adding pressure on retailers and shop workers.
Robbery of business property rose from 571 offences in 2020 to 1,242 in 2025, an increase of 118%, analysis of Greater Manchester Police (GMP) neighbourhood crime data showed.
Robbery of business property does not include shoplifting and is more severe, as it is robbery involving force or the threat of force against a business.
Joanne Thomas, Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) general secretary, said: “Behind the statistics is the true impact of the fear, intimidation and trauma that workers go through every day.”
By comparison, other crime categories fell over the same period.
Residential burglary was down 47%, while business and community burglary fell 41% and vehicle offences dropped 32%.
Moreover, robbery of personal property fell 24%, while theft from person was down 21%.
The timing was striking as well, as from 2020 to 2024, robbery of business property across the region was fairly stable, with annual totals ranging from 517 to 666.
Then, 2025 changed drastically as monthly totals climbed sharply from spring.
There were 85 offences in April, 106 in May and 141 in June, the highest monthly total.
The monthly average was 103.5 offences. In 2024, it was 55.5.
The rise was also spread across Greater Manchester, with every GMP district recording its highest annual total in 2025.
City of Manchester Central saw the biggest increase, rising from 50 offences in 2020 to 188 in 2025, up 276%.
Bolton went from 34 to 127, up 273.5%. Salford rose from 35 to 111, up 217.1%. Rochdale increased from 37 to 106, up 186.5%.
For many retailers, the toll goes beyond just losing stock.
Andrew Goodacre, chief executive of Bira (British Independent Retailers Association), said: “In terms of mental wellbeing, for some owners it is like ‘being mugged every week’.
“The mental strain on the owners is significant.”
Goodacre said more independent retailers were reporting crime and organised crime was making things worse, with shops seen as easy targets.
The wider retail data points in a similar direction.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said retailers spent almost £5.5 billion on crime prevention over the past five years.
Its latest crime survey also said violence and abuse still averaged more than 1,600 incidents a day across the sector.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC, said: “Ultimately, such theft is not a victimless crime, pushing up the price for honest shoppers.”
Dickinson also said organised criminal gangs were systematically targeting stores, sometimes stealing tens of thousands of pounds of goods in one go.
As retailers carry the financial cost, it is workers who often face the abuse directly.
Usdaw’s 2025 survey of 8,980 shopworkers found 78% had been verbally abused, 54% had been threatened and 11% had been assaulted.
The union also said 68% had experienced violence, threats or abuse linked to shoplifting and armed robbery.
That human cost came through in the comments workers gave in the survey.
One worker listed multiple incidents: “Threats after Think 25 policy refusal, physical abuse from an intoxicated man as in store pharmacy was shut, general drunk verbal assault. Clock thrown at me.”
Another said: “Several team members sexually assaulted, including myself. We had a customer repeatedly come in and grope staff from behind. Trolley rammed into my ankle.”
Thomas said theft often escalated into abuse and violence against staff and backed plans for tougher legal protections for retail workers.
The Association of Convenience Stores reported a similar picture. Its 2026 crime report said crime cost the convenience sector £354 million a year, or £7,137 per store. It also found 64% of retailers were reporting more crime to police than a year earlier.
There were also signs of a tougher policy response.
The BRC said the Crime and Policing Bill would create a specific offence for assaulting a retail worker.
Usdaw also welcomed increased investment in neighbourhood policing and said no one should feel afraid to go to work.
The GMP figures suggested the problem was still moving faster than the response.
After the June peak, monthly business robbery totals stayed above 100 from October to December.
Main image: The interior of Manchester’s Arndale shopping centre. Source: Steven Haslington, via Wikimedia Commons.
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