Xscape Yorkshire has partnered with the Retail Trust to bring free resilience and de-escalation training to its retail, cleaning, security and guest services staff, as part of a wider rollout across Landsec’s shopping destinations following a successful pilot last year.
Through the Retail Trust’s Let’s Respect Retail campaign, Landsec gave free training at four major sites in 2025, teaching staff how to manage confrontations on the shop floor and recover afterwards. That support is now extending to 13 further Landsec destinations, including Xscape in Castleford, with everyone working at a Landsec site also gaining access to new online safety tools via the Landsec Protect app, covering issues including anti-social behaviour and being filmed without consent.
The expansion follows the British Retail Consortium’s 2026 Crime Report, which found retail workers face more than 1,600 incidents of violence and abuse a day, including 43,000 physically violent incidents a year. The new Crime and Policing Act has since made assault of a retail worker a standalone criminal offence in England and Wales.
Difficult customers
A security guard who took part in the training said: “When you’re dealing with antisocial behaviour or difficult customers, it can stay with you even after your shift has finished and you can feel anxious about coming back into work the next day.” They added: “This is going to become even more important coming up to Christmas, when there are going to be more shoppers, more pressure and more temporary staff who may not have dealt with these situations before.”
Jason Warren, Centre Director at Xscape Yorkshire, said: “Every day, our colleagues play an essential role in bringing Xscape to life. It’s important that they feel supported, valued, and confident that their wellbeing and safety are a priority.”
Chris Brook-Carter, Chief Executive of the Retail Trust, said: “The people who’ve taken part in our training tell us that thoughtless, unkind and aggressive behaviour can stay with them long after their shift has ended and that they increasingly worry about situations like filming by shoppers or being targeted outside of work.”
