The British Independent Retailers Association has said it is fully behind the ShopKind campaign which launched this week.

The #ShopKind campaign, which is backed by the Home Office and supported by major high street retailers, as well as the nation's independent shopkeepers, and the shopworkers union Usdaw.

The aid of the campaign is to to encourage positive behaviours in shops, acknowledge the important role of shopworkers and raise awareness about the scale and impact of violence and abuse against shopworkers. 

Figures show that 400 shopworkers are abused every day, which has prompted the campaign to ask shoppers to be kind and to encourage people to always report violence and abuse.

BIRA, which works with over 6,000 independent businesses of all sizes across the UK, said abuse towards shopworkers was a real problem, and so were fully supporting the campaign.

Jeff Moody, Commercial Director of BIRA said: "Shopworkers should be able to go about their day-to-day business with respect and thanks from people using their invaluable service.

"This is a great campaign which we are encouraging all of our members to get behind and we want to be able to help encourage the positive behaviours in shops, and also acknowledge the important role of shopworkers in our villages, towns and cities.

"With 400 shopworkers being abused each day is a shocking figure and even one case isn't acceptable. We would therefore urge each and every shopworker who is abused to ensure they report the crime as soon as possible," he said.