Landsec and the Retail Trust ramp up support efforts for retail workers facing abuse at work across the UK
Real estate company, Landsec, has expanded its partnership with retail industry charity the Retail Trust to support employees at its shopping destinations affected by abuse at work.
Through the Retail Trust’s Let’s Respect Retail campaign, Landsec piloted free resilience and de-escalation training at four of its major shopping destinations in 2025 and 2026. The sessions gave hundreds of people the skills and confidence to manage challenging interactions and recover quickly after difficult moments on the shop floor.
This month, the Retail Trust’s support will be rolled out across a further 13 Landsec destinations across the UK. Everyone working at a Landsec shopping destination will be given access to new online tools from the Retail Trust on the Landsec Protect app to help them stay safe, respond to difficult situations and recover afterwards.
This includes new advice on how to respond to issues like antisocial behaviour and being filmed without consent or targeted after a shift. There will also be more face-to-face support ranging from new staff training to meetings with retail managers to help them protect their teams.
The partnership is being expanded as the British Retail Consortium’s 2026 Crime Report reveals that retail workers face more than 1,600 incidents of violence and abuse every day, with 43,000 physically violent incidents per year. The newly introduced Crime and Policing Act has now made the assault of a retail worker a standalone criminal offence in England and Wales.
Throughout the remainder of 2026, the Retail Trust’s Let’s Respect Retail materials will be visible across Landsec’s shopping centres. More than 300 businesses backed the campaign last year by displaying messages in stores and shop windows asking people to treat their staff with kindness.
A security guard who took part in the training earlier this year said: “When you’re dealing with antisocial behaviour or difficult customers, it can stay with you even after your shift has finished and you can feel anxious about coming back into work the next day.’’
“The training was really useful because it showed that people across different roles are dealing with many of the same challenges, and that there is support available from the Retail Trust. The coping techniques were practical and there was something in there that could work for everyone.”
“This is going to become even more important coming up to Christmas, when there are going to be more shoppers, more pressure and more temporary staff who may not have dealt with these situations before. Support like this gives people more confidence to know how to respond and how to look after themselves afterwards.”
Bruce Findlay, Managing Director of Retail at Landsec, comments: “Everyone has the right to feel safe and respected at work. Our industry depends on the millions of people working in our place and abuse should never be accepted as simply part of the job.”
“At Landsec and across our UK wide destinations, we believe it’s vital we do everything we can to ensure difficult situations don’t become the norm or deter people from joining and staying in our industry. That’s why we’re extending our partnership with the Retail Trust to increase access to training and support for people working in the shops, restaurants and keeping our places clean and secure.”
“And we’re asking everyone who visits our destinations to play their part in ensuring retail workers feel respected and valued. If the people at the heart of our places feel supported, it should lead to better experiences and more reasons for our guests to smile.”
Chris Brook-Carter, Chief Executive of the Retail Trust, says: “The people who’ve taken part in our training tell us that thoughtless, unkind and aggressive behaviour can stay with them long after their shift has ended and that they increasingly worry about situations like filming by shoppers or being targeted outside of work. We’re working with Landsec to give thousands of staff working at its shopping destinations more support while reminding millions of shoppers to treat everyone with respect.”
“We all have a role to play in creating more respectful and kinder shopping environments and our charity’s Let’s Respect Retail campaign will remind us all that even something as simple as a greeting or a smile can make a huge difference to people who are facing daily hostility at work.”
2026 RTIH Innovation Awards
Retail security will be a key focus area at our sister title RTIH’s 2026 Innovation Awards.
The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.
Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.
Check out the 2025 winners here.
RTIH’s 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.
In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”
“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”
He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”
