Oxford Street crime wave driven by decline, says M&S chief

Sacha Berendji, operations director at M&S, has told the Telegraph that the recent surge in crime rates on London’s Oxford Street has been caused by its decline.

In a letter written to the publication, Berendji stated that Oxford Street was once “the jewel in London’s shopping crown” but now consisted of “empty shops, littered streets and fewer visitors”.

This response follows an incident on Wednesday which saw large crowds of people gathering on Oxford Street as a result of a social media campaign calling on people to “rob JD Sports”.

Metropolitan Police arrested nine and issued 34 dispersal orders in response to the incident, something Berendji stated was “another reminder of how bad things are”.

Reports of the incident state that retailers were forced to pull down their shutters with people inside as police clashed with dozens of people.

This letter follows Housing Secretary Michael Gove’s decision to block M&S’s plans to demolish its flagship Marble Arch store and rebuild it.

The plans had received support from both Westminster Council and businesses such as Selfridges.

The company is now weighing up whether to vacate its store on Oxford Street as a result.

Berendji said: “With the support of Westminster Council, the Greater London Authority, and many of our retail neighbours, M&S wanted to start the fight back.

“To reverse the failing fortunes of Oxford Street by redeveloping our store to provide a modern, sustainable building which would have regenerated the area, created thousands of jobs, drastically cut ongoing carbon emissions, and attracted new investment.”