Traditional crime, including organised shoplifting, cost more than £1,000 from over half of small business victims across England and Wales in the last two years, with one-in-ten losing in excess of £10,000 according to new research by the Federation of Small Businesses.

FSB’s report reveals that small businesses are facing a double hit of virtual and physical crimes, with 81% – or 4.1m – of them in the two nations affected by at least one crime between January 2021 and January 2023, an increase from 49% in the same period between 2017 and 2019.

The report also revealed a growing number of reports of organised shoplifting and threatening behaviour towards shop owners and their staff. More than a third (35%) have been impacted by at least one traditional crime in the last two years. These crimes are related to vandalism/damage to premises and anti-social behaviour (34%), followed by burglary or robbery (30%) and theft by a third/external party (29%).

A majority (72%) of small businesses have encountered cyber crime with phishing (92%) dominating the scene. One in ten have faced malware attacks, while a similar proportion (9%) had their social media accounts hacked. 44% of those falling victim to cybercrime lost up to £1,000. A third lost more than £1,000 and 6% say it cost more than £10,000.

The surge in the number of crimes against small businesses is despite six in ten (65%) taking at least one measure to protect themselves against traditional crimes, such as installing or updating security, initiating a training programme, and improved insurance cover. The FSB report found that the majority (92%) gear up against cybercriminals and fraudsters, ranging from installing anti-virus software to updating software on IT systems regularly.

The FSB has outlined a series of actions it would like to see from police and crime commissioners, the Home Office and government. Tina McKenzie, FSB policy chair, said: “We’ve been hearing countless reports of organised shoplifting over the past year, and our study further shows how serious and unprecedented the problem is. This is certainly not what we need at a time when we look to grow our economy and the start-up landscape.

“What’s more alarming is the explosive rise in cybercrime and fraud from the persistence of phishing emails to sophisticated invoice fraud. As more and more small businesses extend their operations to the virtual world, online services providers that hold personal and financial information must enhance their security measures.”

McKenzie says that small businesses are actively taking measures to protect themselves but adds that the extent of crime and the severity of damage to the economy are far beyond what they can control.

“The small business and self-employed community can’t be left to fend for themselves against organised crime. We need to see not only firmer and swifter action from the police and the government, but also politicians standing for the next general election to make business crime a priority in their manifesto and show that they place these 5.5m voters at heart.”

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