Prerana Issar, Chief People Officer at Sainsbury’s, has revealed that store employees faced an average of 1,300 assaults per day in 2023.

Speaking at the Retail Technology Show in London on Wednesday, she explained that supermarket executives hold weekly meetings to address the issue and have collaborated with union partners to ensure the government passed a bill making violence against shop workers a standalone offence.

“When the security guard says over the headset, ‘The same guy is back, and he has a knife,’ there’s this fear—and while we support them, the trauma lingers,” Issar said. “I’ve had colleagues tell me, ‘Even if just one customer is kind, it gets me through the day after being yelled at. If someone smiles or says, “Thanks for your help,” that’s enough.’”

Issar shared that she once wore a Sainsbury’s uniform while stacking shelves and was struck by how shoppers’ behaviour changed.

“People bumped into me without apology, and someone shouted at me about rising coffee prices,” she recalled. “I was stunned by how that fleece made me invisible—dehumanised. Strangers felt they could treat me poorly, and this was just one day. It was shocking.”

Commenting on the trend of companies scaling back diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, Issar noted that Sainsbury’s is one of only four FTSE 100 companies with gender-balanced leadership.

“We’ve prioritised bringing ethnic diversity into our leadership teams, though there’s more work to do,” she said. “We won’t retreat from this commitment just because it’s unfashionable in some circles. It’s a long journey, but staying the course is essential—aligning with both our business needs and our values.”

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