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Two fifths of UK businesses have experienced some form of crime, including theft, fraud, scams and cyber attacks.
The incidents pose a “hidden threat” to firms and the government needs to urgently tackle an issue that is damaging business growth, the report by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said.
Police-recorded shoplifting reached 516,971 offences in the year to December 2024, a 20% year-on-year
rise and the highest figure since current recording began. By March 2025, the total exceeded 530,000.
Cyber crime is also significant with BCC research showing 21% of firms experienced cyber security breaches, including hacking, phishing, ransomware, in the past year.
Other data shows 20% of businesses suffered fraud or scams in the last 12 months, but the report said that unlike physical crime’s immediate visibility (broken windows, missing inventory etc), fraud often goes undetected until long after losses occur.
Despite the scale of the crime against businesses, only 55%-58% of firms report incidents to police, meaning official statistics capture less than half of actual offences, BCC warned.
Under-reporting of crime is mostly by smaller firms, high-street retailers and businesses facing high-volume, low-value offences.
The report said that for many companies “repeated theft, vandalism or online fraud has become background noise, not worth the administrative burden of reporting” and others “doubt that reporting achieves anything”.
The Home Office estimated crime against businesses in England and Wales cost firms £9 billion a year a decade ago, but the BCC said the figure “has almost certainly risen “substantially, given today’s escalating retail losses and cyber fraud”.
Faced with rising crime, businesses are being forced to spend money on security and other preventative measures.
Retailers invested a record £1.8 billion in crime prevention during 2023/24, a 50% increase from £1.2 billion. The convenience sector alone spent £339 million on prevention measures in the past year.
BCC said the cumulative burden of this retail crime effectively adds around 10p to every transaction which is “a tangible, economy-wide tax on growth that consumers ultimately bear”
The report added:
“Money that could fund innovation, skills development or expansion instead pays for cameras, guards and cyber defences.
“This defensive spending maintains the status quo while competitors in lower-crime environments invest in growth.”
BCC described business crime as a “structural constraint” and “measurable brake” on UK economic performance, and said the government should take actions including:
- Set up a national business crime strategic assessment to properly measure the economic harm caused by crime against businesses.
- Create a single cyber attack reporting system for firms, reducing administrative burdens while improving protection.
- Establish regional business crime hubs bringing together police and Business Crime Reduction Partnerships.
- Expand cyber and fraud resilience support for SMEs and improve incentives for businesses to invest in security measures.
Ellis Shelton, BCC policy manager, said:
“Crime against business is now a serious barrier to growth and investment across the UK.
“Our research shows many firms are dealing with rising levels of theft, fraud and cyber attacks. Bosses are being forced to divert crucial time and money to tackling this anchor on growth.
“Crime is becoming more sophisticated and there needs to be a step change in the support businesses can count on.
“Reducing crime against business isn’t just about protecting balance sheets. It’s about removing structural barriers to growth.”
