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Barbers to test blood pressure to fight inequality

2 Sep 2024

Two barber shops in south London are offering customers free blood pressure tests to tackle undiagnosed health issues amongst black and Asian men.
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Bira welcomes recent Bank of England interest rate cut

14 Aug 2024

The British Independent Retailers Association (Bira) has welcomed the Bank of England’s recent decision to cut interest rates from 5.25% to 5%.
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Community rallies around shop owner’s appeal after ‘devastating’ break-in

14 Aug 2024

A shop owner in Bramley, West Leeds, has thanked kind-hearted members of the community after her shop was targeted by burglars.
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National and local governments called on to invest in the repair of the retail sector after recent riots.

14 Aug 2024

The recent wave of civil unrest in the has dealt a severe blow to the UK retail sector, with high-street stalwarts and independent stores alike bearing the brunt of the violence.
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'You have to put in 110% to make a living' says independent retailer

14 Aug 2024

BBC Norfolk has highlighted small businesses calling for more support to help them increase their presence in the High Street.
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150 UK small business grants you could apply for right now

14 Aug 2024

If you need some funding for your small business, website smallbusiness.co.uk has produced a list of grants you could apply for, wherever you're based in the UK.
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Retail inflation remains low as clothing and footwear prices keep falling

5 Aug 2024

Annual shop price inflation remained at 0.2% in July, according to the BRC-NielsenIQ Shop Price Index, the lowest rate since October 2021. Non-food prices remained in deflation, with an annual... Read more…

Men who stole thousands from small businesses sentenced

5 Aug 2024

Two men have been handed suspended sentences after stealing thousands of pounds from small businesses during a card-machine scam.
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Swansea shop stops selling luxury items as thefts rise

5 Aug 2024

Tying down products and stopping selling high-end items are among the measures one shop owner has taken amid a rise in shoplifting.
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The Ice Cream of the Crop on Merseyside wins two more awards

5 Aug 2024

A family-run business that "people come from everywhere" to visit has won two awards. John Hughes is the proud owner of West Kirby's Ice Cream Shop which specialises in creating every... Read more…

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Indie shops in Liverpool create their own security network to combat shoplifters.

Posted on in Business News

An independent shop owner in Liverpool has said that independent shops in the city centre have taken to creating their own security WhatsApp group, warning each other of shoplifters in the area.

Matta's food shop

Dalip Matta, owner of family-run business Matta’s International Food, which has had a home on Bold Street for four decades, told LBC that most small businesses can’t afford dedicated security staff, so they’ve created a WhatsApp group to help each other. Bold Street is one of Liverpool’s busiest and most popular streets. It’s home to many independent businesses, bars, restaurants, and shops selling an array of items.

Mr Matta says shop theft has gone up by at least 25% this year alone and claims to have lost hundreds of pounds in the last few weeks alone through shoplifting.

“Bold Street stores, they collaborate. There’s like a WhatsApp group and stuff,” he said.

“They send pictures of people they’ve caught, or they’re suspicious or they’ve seen them rob through CCTV cameras.

“So that is going around now, it’s a Bold Street WhatsApp group, along with some other shops. We’ve got together to see what we can do and help each other. That’s how it is.

“It is an issue and, obviously, it's coming up to Christmas so hopefully it won’t get any worse. We’re going to have to be more vigilant, buckle our belts up and get through this.”

Mr Matta started working at the shop as a teenager on the shop floor in the 90’s, before taking over the running of the shop from his father.

He says he does get angry and upset that people steal from his shop, but ultimately feels sorry for people that they must resort to these drastic measures to get by.

Mr Matta says he has had to rearrange parts of his shop to try and control the problem.

“We’ve had to move a few things around the store and behind the counter because we had a few people come in just for certain, things like high-end drinks and stuff like that.

“That started early in the year, and recently, just a few weeks ago, we had a big range of organic cleaning products imported from America which are quite expensive.

“We had a couple hundred quid’s worth taken in a couple of days. They came, we replenished, and then they came back again the next day.

“The amount of thieving has gone up quite a lot, at least 25%.”

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