Leaked Tesco cost-saving plans seen by RN reveal cuts to the supermarket’s in-store security. 

From 28 April, store detectives will be removed and security guard hours will be cut across low- and higher-risk stores.

According to the plans,  guard hours will be “determined by the shrinkage and return on investment”.

The company claimed: “The annual cost of guarding in a large number of stores exceeds the annual cost to shrinkage.”

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Tesco claimed staff in ‘critical-risk’ locations would receive more guarding hours, but one staff member said: “I work in a critical-risk store and we have just had our guarding hours cut drastically. They’ve hit security managers and guards.”

Other multiples have also cut back on security in the past year, but have used technology to meet the shortfall.

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A consultation by Asda with its security staff to ‘re-align’ working hours in February 2018 coincided with a £1.5m body-worn camera trial. Asda claimed it reduced incidents by 34%. It was rolled out to 48% of sites.

More than 6,500 Co-op staff signed a petition last autumn demanding an end to ‘unsafe’ single shop floor worker shifts. Last year, the company implemented staff headsets connected to a hotline. It said a suspect was charged in every incident reported through them.

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