A rural insurer is warning farm shop owners to 'stay vigilant' after survey revealed two-thirds of rural retailers have suffered from crime in the last 12 months. 

NFU Mutual conducted a survey in March 2024 that revealed the rural crime has cost shops on average more than £40,000 in the last year. It also found that one in 20 rural retailers had lost between £200,001 and £500,000 to crime in the same period. 

More than half (53%) of rural retailers said they have had to implement security measures in the past 12 months, and that includes 59% installing CCTV and more than four in 10 training employees on safety and self-defence. 

Farming specialist at NFU Mutual, David Harrison, said:  “Our study shows a worrying number of retailers of all sizes are unfortunately falling victim to crime and we would urge farm shop owners to stay vigilant to protect their stock, staff and premises.

“With rural retailers on average suffering losses of more than £40,000 a year as a result of theft, we have seen businesses make huge efforts to feel protected from crime, with both technology and physical security put in place.

“As a mutual serving farm shops across the country, we work closely with our risk management specialists to reduce the threat of other shops becoming victims of crimes like this.

“Farm shops have sadly been targeted in the past due to their remote locations, so it’s vital owners take all necessary and appropriate preventative steps to try and deter thieves.”

The survey shows that 74% of retailers across all areas of the UK have suffered from crime over the past 12 months. 

The most common type of crime retailers have suffered was the theft of goods from the shopfloor or stockroom in working hours (48%), with verbal violence or assault against staff and customers (38%), overnight theft (23%), criminal damage (20%) and theft of money from tills or safe (13%) also featuring highly.

NFU Mutual's advice to protect against break-ins 

  • Ensure all doors and windows have good quality locks (to BS3621) which cannot be opened from the outside or from the inside without the use of a key 
  • Always keep keys to doors, windows, and safes, in a secure location. Always remove them from your premises outside of business hours and limit their distribution amongst managers or staff.  
  • Consider investing in good shutters, grilles and bars on doors and windows. 
  • If investing in an intruder alarm, ensure it is installed by a NSI or SSAIB approved company, compliant to EN1350-1 and provides remote signalling to an alarm receiving centre 
  • If investing in surveillance (CCTV) ensure it provides good quality images, is recorded to the cloud with links to mobiles and/or remote monitoring, and meets requirements of GDPR 
  • Be aware of cyber threats and make sure you have cyber insurance in place should the worst happen 
  • Consider hiring data protection specialists to provide ongoing security of your data 
  • Have a robust policy in place for responding to intruder alarm activations - i.e. don't let a keyholder turn up on their own