Overview

• Several businesses on the Strand, including Jigsaw, are using a locked‑door entry policy that requires customers to knock before being admitted.
• The measure was reportedly adopted after an O2 trial prompted by robberies in St Albans, with the approach now used at its Strand branch.
• Metropolitan Police figures show 86,599 shoplifting incidents in London between August 2024 and July 2025.
• Office for National Statistics data record 530,643 shoplifting offences in England and Wales in the year to March 2025, the highest since current recording began.
• Political pressure is building as Susan Hall attacks City Hall’s handling of retail crime, while the government points to a Crime and Policing Bill, expanded town‑centre patrols, and a planned 3,000‑officer neighbourhood uplift by spring 2026.