Staff at Marks & Spencer are facing daily violence including ammonia assaults and physical attacks as organised gangs raid stores, according to company executives who say retail crime has become a "systemic issue" and "growing issue" requiring urgent government intervention. The warning comes after a week of incidents that left one employee hospitalised from an ammonia attack and another headbutted while trying to defuse a confrontation.

Marks & Spencer retail director Thinus Keeve painted a stark picture of escalating violence in a letter to London Mayor Sadiq Khan, describing gangs "forcing open locked cabinets and stripping shelves" while staff members suffer increasingly brazen attacks.

This Week's Incidents at M&S Stores
  • Gangs forced open locked security cabinets and cleared shelves
  • Two men brazenly emptied steak shelves and walked out
  • Large group ransacked store before assaulting security guard
  • Employee headbutted while attempting to defuse situation
  • Staff member hospitalised after ammonia thrown in face

"We need to recognise this for what it is. A systemic issue. A growing issue. And one that demands a co-ordinated response across government, policing and industry," Keeve wrote in The Telegraph, urging stronger police response and coordinated targeting of repeat offenders.

The retailer's external affairs director Adam Hawksbee told BBC Radio 4 that stores have been targeted by organised criminal gangs, leaving staff "worried about coming into work." The company has invested "tens of millions" in security measures but says there's "only so much you can do" without additional police intervention.

Clapham Incident Highlights Broader Problem

The warnings follow chaotic scenes in Clapham, south London, where police responded to reports of anti-social behaviour involving a group of "several hundred young people" last weekend. Many were seen entering an M&S store. Separately, about 100 police officers were called to Clapham High Street on Tuesday where young people were reported attempting to access shops and a restaurant, with disturbances that included lighting fires and setting off fireworks on Clapham Common.

Six teenage girls were arrested after what Metropolitan Police described as incidents "fuelled by online trends." Five people were assaulted during the disorder, including four police officers. The Met expects more arrests in coming days.

Similar incidents have erupted across England. Police in Rochdale imposed dispersal orders after groups were "reported to be harassing staff and causing criminal damage," while West Midlands Police restricted gatherings in Solihull for 36 hours after reports of teenagers causing criminal damage.

Retail crime has become "more brazen, more organised and more aggressive," according to M&S executives.

Government Response and Industry Impact

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood received a letter from M&S chief executive Stuart Machin detailing the escalating situation. Crime and Policing Minister Sarah Jones called the incidents "disgraceful" and said the government is "giving police stronger powers, ending the immunity for thefts under £200 so that shoplifters can be prosecuted."

Mayor Khan's office said shoplifting "is not a victimless crime" and expressed support for Met Police's "data-driven and targeted approach to tackling prolific offenders." Khan is expected to meet with M&S representatives soon.

For retailers, the violence represents more than isolated incidents—it's forcing fundamental recalculations of store operations, security spending and neighbourhood presence. When crime costs consistently outweigh profits in certain locations, major chains face difficult decisions about maintaining physical stores.

Hawksbee emphasised that while retail crime "has always existed," recent weeks and months have seen the problem worsen significantly. He called for local and national leaders to "all get round the table, roll our sleeves up and try to deal with this challenge because at the moment it feels like it's going in the wrong direction."

The Metropolitan Police have increased officer numbers ahead of the Bank Holiday weekend and implemented what they describe as a "strong policing plan" to prevent future disorder. However, with organised gangs adapting their tactics and social media apparently fuelling some incidents, the retail industry faces an evolving threat that traditional security measures struggle to address.