Procedure details
Store or site
Procedure owner
Date and review date
Cash-in-till limit The maximum float before a skim to the safe is required
Banking arrangements owner Who varies the run: never a fixed time, route or person
Prevention - cash controls
- Till floats kept to the documented limit; excess skimmed to a time-delay or drop safe
- Time-delay safe signage visible at the entry and the register
- Banking runs varied by time, day, route and person
- Cash counted in a locked back room out of public view, never on the counter
- Two people present for opening, closing and end-of-day counts where staffing allows; a documented lone procedure where it does not
- Clear sightlines from the register to the entry; window posters kept below [height]
- CCTV covering entry, registers and safe, with recording verified monthly
- Height markers at exits and staff trained to use them
- Back door locked at all times and never used for cash movements
- A cash-in-transit provider used above [amount] rather than staff banking
During a robbery
One rule above all: money and stock are replaceable, people are not. Staff comply, stay calm, and observe only what they can see without moving.
- Do what the offender says, nothing more and nothing less
- Tell them about surprises before they find them ('my colleague is in the back room')
- Keep your hands visible; move slowly and narrate ('I'm opening the till now')
- Hand over what is demanded; do not argue, negotiate or stall
- Do not stare; note details peripherally: height against markers, clothing, voice, weapon, direction of exit
- Do not chase, follow, or watch them to a vehicle from the doorway
- Activate the hold-up alarm only when it is safe, usually after they leave
- If a weapon is used or claimed, assume it is real
Immediately after - the first hour
| When | Action |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 minutes | Check every person for injury. Call 999 even if the hold-up alarm has fired. Lock the doors. |
| 2 to 10 minutes | Ask witnesses to stay, or take names and numbers if they must leave. Keep everyone away from surfaces the offender touched. Have each person write their description separately, before anyone compares notes. |
| 10 to 30 minutes | Call [role] on [number]. Preserve CCTV from an hour before the event onward. Do not reopen or clean until police release the scene. |
| 30 to 60 minutes | Manager on site or directing remotely. Relieve affected staff, arrange contact at home that evening, offer support. No staff statements to media and no social media posts. |
Support and reporting
Every robbery, attempted robbery and hold-up threat is reported internally within 24 hours, and to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) where the incident is notifiable. Affected staff come off register duties for the rest of the shift at minimum, are offered counselling proactively, and are rostered back with a check-in, not by default.
Review this procedure and the prevention checklist within a week of any incident, including attempts. Offenders return to soft targets; the week after is when controls matter most.
Training and drills
- Every new starter walks through this procedure before their first solo register shift
- The comply, observe, alarm-when-safe sequence rehearsed verbally each quarter
- Opening and closing staff practise the lone procedure, not just read it
- Hold-up alarm test schedule in place, with the false-activation procedure known
- Managers briefed on the first-hour table so they can run it from memory
- Refresher run after any local robbery series or police alert
- Casuals and weekend staff included in drills, not just full-timers
- Drill dates and attendance recorded as health and safety training evidence