7th June 2026

Opening Reflection

Another Week, Another Shoplifter

I’m afraid this week begins with another rant about shoplifting.

The simple question I keep asking is:

When is somebody in government actually going to do something about it?

Because from where I’m standing, the situation is getting worse, not better.

This week I happened to be in one of our shops when a shoplifter walked in, grabbed three bottles of our most expensive vodka, and headed calmly towards the exit.

No rush.
No panic.
No attempt to hide what he was doing.

That’s how confident shoplifters have become.

As he approached the door where I was standing, I simply said:

“You’ve been caught, mate. Go and put it back.”

To his credit, he handed over one bottle.

But I’ve learned a thing or two over the years.

One of the tricks shoplifters use is to surrender one item while quietly keeping the rest hidden away. They rely on you being so pleased to recover something that you don’t look any further.

Not this time.

I checked his bag and recovered the other two bottles.

Three bottles saved.

A small victory.

Look Me in the Eye

What struck me most wasn’t the theft itself.

It was the fact that he couldn’t look me in the eye.

I kept asking him to look at me.

Not because I wanted a confrontation.

Because I wanted him to understand something.

Small business isn’t some giant faceless corporation.

It’s not a mysterious organisation somewhere in the clouds.

It’s me.

It’s my staff.

It’s the people who have worked hard to create something.

When you steal from a small business, you’re stealing from real people.

And I wanted him to see the face of the person who bears the consequences.

I don’t think he liked that very much.

The Reality for Independent Retailers

The truth is that most independent retailers simply don’t have the resources to fight back.

We can’t afford teams of security guards.

We can’t afford elaborate anti-theft systems.

Many of us are fighting every day just to make a modest profit.

When someone steals high-value products, that can be the difference between a profitable day and a wasted one.

People rightly celebrate nurses, doctors, teachers and emergency workers.

But I sometimes feel independent shopkeepers are invisible.

And yet they are dealing with rising costs, rising rents, rising wages, staffing challenges, business rates, utility bills and now an epidemic of shoplifting.

I genuinely take my hat off to anyone who has managed to survive for years in independent retail.

It is not for the faint-hearted.

One Step Forward, One Step Back

The frustrating thing is that victories are often short-lived.

I recovered three bottles of vodka this week.

Great.

The following day another shoplifter successfully stole two bottles of rum.

Back to square one.

The whole process starts again.

Sometimes it feels like trying to empty the ocean with a teaspoon.

A Thought Experiment

I’ve become so exasperated that I’ve started entertaining mischievous ideas.

Part of me is tempted to leave empty bottles filled with heavily salted water on display.

Imagine the disappointment when a shoplifter gets home expecting premium rum and discovers they’ve stolen a bottle of seawater.

I haven’t done it yet.

But I must confess the idea brings a smile to my face.

Tube Strikes and Other Headaches

As if shoplifting wasn’t enough, London was hit by tube strikes again this week.

For a retailer, tube strikes don’t just affect the strike day itself.

The knock-on effect lasts for days afterwards.

Our takings were effectively cut in half.

There is nothing you can do about it.

You simply absorb the loss and carry on.

And with more disruption potentially on the horizon, the uncertainty continues.

Support for Small Businesses

This week I was asked to support a campaign calling for VAT on hospitality to be reduced to 10%.

I think it would make a tremendous difference.

The reality is that governments often focus their support on pubs.

Now, I have nothing against pubs.

But not everyone socialises in a pub.

People gather in cafés.
They gather in wine bars.
They gather in delis.
They gather in farm shops.

Places like ours create community too.

And we deserve support as well.

Embracing Change

Away from the frustrations, I’ve begun a thorough review of the business.

The focus is productivity.

One thing I’ve learned over the years is that people naturally prefer doing things the way they’ve always done them.

Change is uncomfortable.

Yet AI is moving at a pace that is extraordinary.

What continues to amaze me is how many people are ignoring it.

My particular frustration is Excel.

People become experts at spreadsheets and cling to them for dear life, even when there are now AI-powered tools capable of doing far more in a fraction of the time.

The future isn’t waiting.

And businesses that fail to adapt will eventually get left behind.

Why I Still Love It

Reading this back, you could be forgiven for thinking I spend my life complaining.

Shoplifters.
Tube strikes.
Costs.
Administration.

But here’s the truth.

I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else.

Because the real joy isn’t in reaching the destination.

The joy is in the journey.

The challenge.
The problem-solving.
The constant discovery.

If it were easy, it wouldn’t be nearly as satisfying.

Closing Reflection

A week ago we were enjoying glorious sunshine.

Customers were out in force.

Optimism was everywhere.

This week we’ve had torrential rain, thunder, lightning and unpredictable weather.

And that, in many ways, is the perfect metaphor for running a business.

You never quite know what tomorrow will bring.

All you can do is show up.

Face the challenge.

Adapt to the conditions.

And keep moving forward.

Onwards.