Staff theft: Licensees warned to "keep an eye out" at their pubs

02-Nov-2012 - Last updated on 11-Mar-2017 at 22:10 GMT

Licensees must “keep an eye on their staff at all times” to deal with the issue of employee theft, which cost British retail and hospitality businesses £1.7bn last year.

Speaking to delegates at the BII South East Region AGM last week, BII Business Doctor Trevor Brown said it is essential to operate a zero-tolerance policy on theft at pubs.

Brown explained that “80% of theft will occur somewhere around the till” and that licensees should have “whistleblowers” among their staff who will tell them what is happening when they are off the premises.

“In the UK, £4.2 billion across retail industries as a whole,” said Brown. “Most of it is customer theft but it is very closely followed by employee theft.”

According to Brown, employees typically steal from pubs by not ringing in a sale and pocketing the money, ringing in a cheaper product to the one being dispensed or deliberately making mistakes which are then consumed.

Any cash or products that are stolen are typically hidden inside a drinks can or taken off site in a bin bag, according to Brown. Employees may also offer to mop the floor before dropping a product inside the mop bucket.

The most common form of customer theft occurs when “young bar staff” get caught out by people waving a £20 note at the bar asking to be served, before substituting it for a £10 note at the last minute.
Brown also highlighted the case of the “dreaded people who will tread behind your bar without being challenged”.

He said: “Simply by carrying a laptop, nine times out ten nobody will ask me what I am doing behind your bar, they will just let you carry on.”

“You just need to be aware of this type of thing - make sure that if they are staff, they will be fired, make it part of your contract policy, and get the police involved because I don’t think it is fair that they can just go to another pub and steal from there, because that is what they will do.”

Wandsworth clampdown

Police in Wandsworth have issued licence review warnings to numerous pubs in the area as part of a clampdown on customer theft.

The PMA understands that numerous venues have been targeted following an increase in the number of thefts across Wandsworth, and pubs could have their premises licences reviewed if thefts continue to occur.

A Met Police spokesperson said: “We are currently working in partnership with a number of licensed premises to try and assist them to deal with an increase in the number of thefts that are taking place on their premises.

“However, the Metropolitan Police is a responsible authority under the Licensing Act 2003 and reserves the right to initiate a review on a licensed premises in relation to the licensing objectives if they are not fully supported in each premises.”