Merseyside Police has launched the UK’s first formal partnership with retail charity Retail Trust to tackle abuse against shopworkers, introducing specialist de-escalation training and wellbeing support for retail staff across Liverpool city centre through a new safety initiative announced this week.

The programme will provide retail employees with training designed to help them manage, de-escalate and recover from confrontational situations at work, while expanding access to the charity’s support services. Around 500 workers will gain access to the Retail Trust’s wellbeing resources, including counselling and a 24-hour helpline, which will now also be available to independent retailers operating in the city centre.

Training sessions are already taking place around St John’s Shopping Centre, with a wider rollout planned across Liverpool city centre in the coming months. Police officers will remain directly involved in the programme as part of the force’s zero-tolerance approach to violence and intimidation against retail workers.

The initiative is funded through the Hyper-Local Policing Fund awarded by the Home Office and secured by Merseyside’s police and crime commissioner alongside Merseyside Police. The funding will be used to prevent knife crime, robbery and other violent offences across four priority areas in the city centre, including St George’s Quarter, Matthew Street and Ropewalks.

Research from the Retail Trust shows the scale of the problem facing shop staff, with 77 per cent reporting intimidating behaviour in the past year and 23 per cent saying they had been physically assaulted. While the charity has previously delivered training to thousands of retail employees across the UK, the Liverpool programme marks the first time it has partnered directly with a police force to provide support alongside law enforcement.

Superintendent Philip Mullally, force lead for serious violence and knife crime at Merseyside Police, said the partnership was intended to give workers practical support while reinforcing enforcement action against offenders. “Retail workers are an important part of our local economy and should not have to feel intimidated, threatened or unsafe doing their jobs,” he said.

Emily Spurrell, the region’s police and crime commissioner who secured the funding for the initiative, said the programme aimed to improve safety across local high streets. “No one should ever go to work fearing abuse, intimidation or violence,” she said, adding that the partnership combines training, wellbeing support and a clear stance against retail crime.

Chris Brook-Carter, chief executive of the Retail Trust which is delivering the training programme, said the collaboration would expand support for retail employees in Liverpool. “Shop workers across the country are being abused, threatened and assaulted on a daily basis simply for doing their jobs,” he said.

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