Content area
Full text
Boots the Chemists and Superdrug are among 20 major retailers who have this week started a civil recovery pilot in the West Midlands.
Civil recovery is an anti-theft scheme, already established in the US and Canada, where retailers take civil action to recover costs and damages from shoplifters.
The scheme is said to be the UK's first major test of civil recovery and will run for six months in Wolverhampton, Dudley, Brierley Hill, Merry Hill, Wednesfield and Oldbury.
BTC has six stores involved in the pilot, while Superdrug has three. All the retailers, who have invested #60,000 in the scheme, will want to see how it can be part of their retail crime prevention strategy.
A random sample of 552 local shoppers, questioned in September, found that 85.8 per cent believe retailers should claim compensation from shoplifters, and 88 per cent support...