Free to all retailers

Latest News

Revealed: The true cost of supply chain crime to UK retailers

Get your free copy of the new Retail Risk Supply Chain Risk Management Survey – sponsored by ASEL… For years retailers have needed more up-to-date information on supply chain loss. Even quantifying it has proven difficult, let alone identifying the key areas of...

Read More

REVEALED: New data puts a price on abuse in UK retail

Figures suggest £235M price tag could be tip of the iceberg… Verbal and physical abuse against retail workers is costing UK retailers at least £235 Million annually in workforce-related expenses, according to new figures published by body-worn video provider Reveal...

Read More

Trellidor appoints Damian Judge as new CEO

Long-serving leader Terry Dennison set to retire... Security barrier manufacturer Trellidor has announced the appointment of Damian Judge as its new CEO, effective July 2026. The leadership change follows the retirement of current CEO Terry Dennison, who will step...

Read More

The folks that fuel the fog

More than just names on a page I’ll have you know... Last week I gave Courtney and Danna a bit of a shout out for the work they’ve been doing in South Africa. Then I realised, like any parent worth their weight in pride, that I couldn’t possibly leave it at that......

Read More

Lessons in running, rollercoasters, and retail resilience

I've never been one for standing still – and retailers shouldn't be either... You’re only as old as you feel. Or so we’re told. I have generally subscribed to that view... even if my body has other ideas! Having recently suffered a knee injury (which I still...

Read More

Due diligence, doubt… and a surprisingly great weekend

Sometimes the gamble is worth taking… I escaped the idyllic calm of Yorkshire this weekend. Not permanently, don’t worry, I’m not that reckless. But every now and again, even a Dales man needs noise, crowds, and a questionable number of negronis. The destination:...

Read More

Trouble in Torquay!

Not your average Easter weekend… I thought my days of family road trips were over. Turns out I was wrong. Over the Easter bank holiday weekend, my family and I escaped to the coast for a short break. And when I say “my family”, I mean Mandy, Riley, and Pia, plus a...

Read More

Ohhh it’s sweet when things click

A few digital bits... and shout out to South Africa! Ok who gets excited about websites? I mean, it makes sense if you’re into branding or design. Or if you’re in the marketing game (hi, Scott). Or if UX is your jam, so to speak. But I’ve been part of a few website...

Read More

Opal’s new Supply Chain Intelligence Desk goes live

An exciting development in the fight against supply chain crime… Opal, the UK National Intelligence Unit for Serious and Organised Acquisitive Crime, has officially launched its new Supply Chain Crime (SCC) Intelligence Desk. The desk, which went live on 7th April...

Read More

A bit of silliness doesn’t go amiss

And not everything has to land! April Fool’s Day came and went last week... And with it – a short film courtesy of myself and Jack. Based on viewership stats I'm going to assume you haven’t seen it, so let me tell you: this video sits somewhere between a product...

Read More

Policing, popstars, and (loss) prevention

From eighties policing to HMV’s golden era, this episode hits all the right notes… In this week’s Retail Risk – Podcast episode Paul is joined by Andy Martin, Business Development Director at Dual-Stream. Paul and Andy explore his early days as a Police Detective...

Read More

It’s not just NASA that can engineer for extremes

Across more than 2,000 installations in retail environments, we’ve never recorded a successful angle grinder breach of a Trellidor shutter... They did it! NASA’s Artemis II crew have successfully completed their historic fly-by of the far side of the Moon. The four...

Read More

A risk professional, two hitchhikers, and a remote moor…

What could possibly go wrong..? I assess risk for a living. It’s what I do, every day. And if I’m honest, it doesn’t switch off. It seeps into how I see the world. Spend long enough in risk, and it becomes part of your wiring. The professional lens doesn’t stay in...

Read More

The Strip vs. the Old Town

All that energy... but where’s it going? It’s been a little while now since I got back from my holiday in Portimão.   I’ve had ample time to reflect. Which basically means: my body and brain have had ample time to completely forget they’ve been on holiday at all.  ...

Read More

Regrets, I’ve had a few!

From Sinatra to shoplifters… we all end up singing the same tune eventually… It’s not that often that the news makes me smile, particularly right now. But this week I read an article that bucked the trend, and I thought it was worth sharing. It was about a shop...

Read More

Going for gold!

Newly-crowned Hall of Fame winner Matthew Murray talks policing, retail crime, and life on the Gold Coast… On this week’s Retail Risk – Podcast, Paul catches up with Matthew Murray, National Retail Security Manager at Allied Security. Having clocked up an...

Read More

Flying high… and still feeling the fall

It’s been a week of progress in every direction... It’s been a really good week.  The kind where things click into place, and you can feel momentum building again. One of the standout moments was a live drone demonstration and panel at Retail Risk – On The Move. ...

Read More

Egg-cellent news? Easter sales forecast to rise 14%

But retailers' concerns over Iran conflict loom large… Retailers are gearing up for a more buoyant Easter in 2026, with new data pointing to a notable rebound in seasonal spending. According to the latest findings from retail and marketing agency Savvy, 70% of UK...

Read More

It’s not ALL nasty news

We could all do with remembering that... Each week when I sit down to write these articles I think... alright then, what’s new? And then I think... oh god. ‘New stuff’ is ‘news’, isn’t it? News has a pretty bad rep right now, which is totally fair. Five minutes of...

Read More

That’s my summer sorted!

An embarrassment of sporting riches awaits… The Six Nations may be over, but let us not mourn it too deeply. I prefer to think of it as the warm-up act. Because if you’re a sports enthusiast like me, I have good news: 2026 is shaping up to be a bumper year for...

Read More

Why vendors keep coming back to Retail Risk

A MESSAGE FROM PAUL BESSANT It's extradordinary what happens when you get the right mix of people in a room… Every now and then I get a chance to reflect on what we’ve built here. Not in a self-congratulatory way, but in a ‘oh, that’s really cool’ kind of way......

Read More

What kind of commuter are you?

From crisp crunchers to carriage colonisers, I’ve seen the full spectrum of behaviours… There was an old British Rail advert that said “let the train take the strain.” I’ve taken that quite literally. I take at least one two-hour-plus rail journey most weeks. Not...

Read More

One last look over the shoulder

Because all good things must come to an end… Coming to the end of anything meaningful has a way of sharpening the senses. It makes you reflective in a way that the day-to-day rarely allows. It encourages you to look back over your time in post and contemplate not...

Read More

BRC survey highlights ongoing challenge of retail abuse

One in five shoppers say they've witnessed retail violence or abuse in store... Millions of people across the UK are still being exposed to incidents of violence and abuse in shops, according to newly published research from the British Retail Consortium (BRC). The...

Read More

Coffee cups, squeaky chairs, and other things I’ll miss…

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realise they were the big things." – Robert Brault It’s funny, isn’t it?   You can do the same thing every week and barely notice it. You walk into the same meeting rooms, read the same reports, respond to...

Read More

It all came crashing down… literally

From dolphins and diving in Zanzibar to a spectacular rib-crunching return home… I’ve been in holiday mode. Basking in sunshine with absolutely no responsibilities. Then I got home… and promptly broke two ribs. The timing could have been worse, I suppose. Zanzibar...

Read More

The problem with doing things properly

A product long in the pipeline, people! If I’m being totally frank, last week’s piece about inconvenience was 73% about actual inconvenience (broken laptops, AI’s tech-hogging tendencies) and 27% about the heartbreak of a lost Guinness.   Well, this week I’ve been...

Read More

Nothing like a little inconvenience

The Guinness, the laptop, and the great AI memory grab... Oh I do wonder what I could write about this week? Anything going on in the world? No? Nothing of note? Ok that’s grand. Keep it that way please. More of the same calm, soothing global atmosphere we all know...

Read More

The power of routine – and the power of a remarkable woman

Amid a steady diet of gloomy headlines, International Women’s Day sparks a moment of reflection for our writer... I like routine. It keeps the day honest and it keeps me moving forward. Travelling commitments permitting, I’m an early riser. On a good morning –...

Read More

Sign up for Retail Risk News

To have the latest industry news delivered FREE to your inbox every week, subscribe to the Retail Risk weekly newsletter. We take your privacy seriously and won't give any of your personal details to anyone else, for any reason.

Read our privacy policy.