Story perspectives

M&S Deploys 800 Self-Checkouts, Blames Police for Rising Theft

4/26/2026

Summary

Story summary

Marks and Spencer installed 800 self-checkout machines in 2023 to meet a £150 million cost-saving target.
Chairman Archie Norman said the unmanned kiosks encourage law-abiding customers to shoplift.
Office for National Statistics recorded over 530,000 shoplifting offences in 12 months to March 2025, the highest since 2003.
Norman blamed police for not intervening during gang raids such as the balaclava-clad youth attack on Clapham store, criticizing Mayor Sadiq Khan’s crime record.

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Story summary

Marks and Spencer installed 800 self-checkout machines in 2023 to meet a £150 million cost-saving target.
Chairman Archie Norman said the unmanned kiosks encourage law-abiding customers to shoplift.
Office for National Statistics recorded over 530,000 shoplifting offences in 12 months to March 2025, the highest since 2003.
Norman blamed police for not intervening during gang raids such as the balaclava-clad youth attack on Clapham store, criticizing Mayor Sadiq Khan’s crime record.