The Co-op Group has reported that its “leakage costs” for theft and fraud were up 19% at £39.5 million in the first half of 2024.

The Manchester-based mutual said there were 950 crimes a day in its stores in the six months to June 2024 — that’s 172,008 incidents in the first six months of 2024 and a 4% year-on-year increase.

In its half-year report, The Co-op said: “Keeping our colleagues safe is and remains our number one priority. Our Safer Colleagues, Safer Communities campaign has been active since 2021 with greater focus from H1 2023, based on the significant increase in incidents.

“In April 2024, the then Government announced that attacking or abusing a shopworker would be a standalone offence following an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill.

“We had long campaigned for this and it was a key moment for shopworkers and for the communities they serve, so we were disappointed that the Bill fell as a result of the calling of the General Election. However, we were delighted when the new Government made clear its intention to deliver on its long-standing policy to create the standalone offence …

“In the six months to June 2024, we recorded 950 crimes a day in our stores – that’s 172,008 incidents across H1 2024 and a 4% year-on-year increase (H1 2023: 165,652 incidents). ‘Leakage’ costs to our Food business – which include theft and fraud – were around £39.5 million in H1, compared to £33.3 million in H1 2023. 

“In H1, we tested how we can use Artificial Intelligence (AI) analytics to detect concealments and thefts in 14 of our stores, alerting colleagues when an incident was occurring.

“The technology can also detect when a physical assault is taking place and will send an alert directly to our Mitie monitoring station to request support. We will update further as part of our annual results.

“While crime and leakage are still high, a recent ACS (Association of Convenience Stores) report showed that despite us representing 29% of the sales they covered within the report, Co-op only represented 6% of the crime reported – indicating that our investment is helping.

“We hope this gives our colleagues confidence that we are investing in keeping them safe.”