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30 Jul 2024

An independent bike shop in Stroud recently offered a community bike ride to local people. ACT member The Ark Cycles opened Ark Community Shop Ride to cyclists of all ages and skill levels.

26 Jul 2024

The government’s announcement in the recent King’s Speech regarding e-bike battery safety and the regulation of online marketplaces is a welcome step forward towards improving safety...

18 Jul 2024

Cytech training provider Activate Cycle Academy is to exhibit at the GT Malverns Classic Mountain Bike Festival 2024, an event often described as the “Glastonbury of mountain...

15 Jul 2024

The cycling industry is “ripe” for smart investment, and a renewed wave of merger and acquisition deals, as it looks ahead to a profitable 2025 and “significant” medium...

15 Jul 2024

The Independent has published its list of the best electric bikes of 2024 after testing a series of folding, hybrid and city e-bikes.

15 Jul 2024

Community groups and other not-for-profit organisations in Greater Manchester can now apply for funding to set up their own bike library.

15 Jul 2024

Andrew Goodacre, CEO of ACT parent company Bira -the British Independent Retailers Association – has met with the new Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds and...

15 Jul 2024

The London Cycling Campaign has teamed up with Lime and Loud Mobility to launch a new £100,000 ‘Share the Joy’ fund to increase cycling within...

2 Jul 2024

We recently reported that a £1 billion damages claim had been filed against Amazon on behalf of retailers selling on Amazon’s UK marketplace for illegally misusing their data and...

2 Jul 2024

In the first of an occasional series of features, we are delighted to introduce you to Ross, an expert trainer in Glasgow, and one of the most recent trainers to join the Cytech family.

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More people leaving shops without paying amid cost-of-living crisis

Posted on in Business News , Cycles News

This covers the type of theft where on the spot payment is expected. It can include leaving a restaurant without paying the bill, putting fuel into a car and driving away, jumping out of a taxi without paying, or failing to scan items in a shopping basket through a self-service till.

It could also involve using a credit card to buy goods without the authority to use that card, depending on whether the card company honours the payment. The increase in this type of offending is partly due to shops reopening after the pandemic - but it also comes as costs are rising at an unprecedented rate.

These rising figures coupled with the cost-of-living crisis have raised fears that many may turn to this type of offending through desperation. Andrew Goodacre, CEO of the British Independent Retailers Association (Bira), says:

“It is disappointing to see the increases in making off without payment.

"This type of event is damaging to retailers whose margins are already being eroded due to the rising costs of running a business. The increase may reflect shops being open as usual, but I believe there may also be other factors starting to influence this.

"The cost-of-living crisis will invariably influence consumer behaviours and desperate people will do desperate things."
In almost eight out of 10 completed making off without payment investigations last year (78%) no suspect was identified, while only one in 100 cases (1%) resulted in someone being charged or summonsed to appear before a court.

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