Retail news round-up on November 5, 2015: Shopliftng costs £800m a year to retailers; Morrisons to feature own staff in festive ad; and Burberry unifies lines.

British shops lose £1.57bn each year to shoplifting

Shoplifting is costing UK retailers £800m a year, with the likely possibility of a sharp increase in thefts over the crucial festive shopping season.

British shops lose a total of £1.57bn every year to theft, with employees stealing a further £770m of goods, according to the latest Global Retail Theft Barometer, compiled by retail security firm Checkpoint Systems.

Wine and lingerie are among the most stolen items, while door locks and cheese are also targeted by thieves.

Small products and those with a high resale value are the most likely to be stolen, such as fashion accessories, power tools, mobile device accessories, wine and spirits, and razor blades.

Morrisons staff to star in Christmas TV ad campaign

Morrisons has decided to feature its own staff in this year’s Christmas TV ad campaign, after TV personalities such as Ant and Dec failed to boost its fortunes over the crucial festive season in 2014.

The grocer will unveil its new Christmas marketing campaign on social media on November 6, followed by a prime time TV airing.

Rolling out in the UK and Ireland, the campaign consists of in store, outdoor, radio, direct marketing, digital and press advertising, as well as a series of three TV adverts.

The supermarket retailer’s specialist in-store butchers, bakers, greengrocers and fishmongers will star in the advertisements.

Morrisons marketing director Andy Atkinson said: “The stars of our advert are our staff: they are the ones who deliver a magical Christmas through their passion for fresh food. This campaign also shows how we carefully source fresh produce, our friendly customer service and our great value for money.”

Burberry to bring Prorsum, London and Brit collections under one label

Burberry will merge its Prorsum, London and Brit lines under a new single ‘Burberry’ label.

The transition will be phased over the course of next year, becoming one fully unified label by the end of 2016.

The luxury fashion house’s chief executive Christopher Bailey said the move comes as the behaviour of the luxury customer continues to evolve.

“By unifying our three lines under one label we can also offer a much more consistent experience of Burberry’s collections”, Bailey added.