SOFIAH NICHOLE SALIVIO

News Editor

Facewatch will launch a retail crime management platform this autumn that includes a real-time police alert feature for high-risk offenders entering shops. It describes the system as the first of its kind in the UK.

After testing with existing retail partners, the platform will combine live facial recognition, incident reporting, case management and evidence workflows for police use in a single system.

The new police alert function will send an instant notification when live facial recognition matches a person categorised as a serious offender as they enter a protected store. The aim is to let officers respond while an incident is taking place, rather than after a report has been filed.

The launch comes as retailers continue to report high levels of theft, abuse and violence against shop workers. Facewatch linked it to changes under the Crime and Policing Act 2026, which introduced stronger protections for retail staff and removed the previous £200 threshold for low-value shop theft.

Originally founded as a digital reporting tool for businesses sending incident reports to police, Facewatch later shifted its focus to live facial recognition in retail settings. The latest launch brings those strands together, combining prevention, reporting and evidence handling in one product.

Its network currently sends more than 50,000 positive alerts a month to thousands of stores across the UK when a known offender is detected on the premises, according to the company. Facewatch said the system generated more than 500,000 real-time alerts in 2025 and reached a record 55,462 positive alerts in May 2026.

Facewatch said its alerting process checks each match with two algorithms before a human verification stage, producing 99.98% operational accuracy before an alert is sent to a retailer. It added that the new police warning system would notify officers within an average of four seconds when the most serious offenders are identified on its network.

Police Response

Nick Fisher, Chief Executive Officer of Facewatch, said retailers had asked for a single system for shop floor staff, loss prevention teams and police forces.

“The Facewatch Crime Management Platform combines world-class algorithm accuracy with an easy-to-use reporting system, enabling retailers to record incidents, analyse data and generate evidence-led reports. Retailers have told us they want one trusted platform that supports shop floor colleagues, loss prevention teams and the police, and that’s what we’re building. To support the wider community and government fight against retail crime, the capability to alert police instantly when serious offenders trigger a live facial recognition match will take evidence-backed crime reporting to the next level,” Fisher said.

He said the system was intended to address repeat offending, which he described as a major driver of theft and violence in stores.

“The majority of retail crime is carried out by a minority of prolific repeat offenders, an increasing number of whom are using weapons to threaten shop workers. We’re calling time on prolific repeat offending with a unique technical development that will warn police within an average of four seconds the moment the worst offenders are matched and flagged on our network,” Fisher said.

Data Control

A central part of Facewatch’s pitch to retailers is its role as data controller across its network. The company said this structure allows it to take responsibility for processing personal and special category biometric data, rather than leaving those obligations with individual retail customers.

The arrangement also allows the business to share alerts across its retailer network when it judges that sharing to be proportionate. Facewatch argued that aggregated intelligence extends the system’s reach because offenders identified at one store can trigger warnings elsewhere in the network.

Fisher used the launch to warn retailers against taking direct responsibility for biometric data processing without fully assessing the legal and operational implications.

“Retailers should carefully assess the decision and risk of processing special category biometric data. The decision to do so means taking on serious legal liability, losing the benefit and protection of aggregated data intelligence, and managing complex data rights and obligations in-house. A software vendor may tell you these things aren’t important, but it’s not them that will have to deal with the fallout,” Fisher said.

He added that retailers acting as their own data controllers would receive fewer alerts than those connected to Facewatch’s wider network.

“Retailers who take on the role of data controller are significantly disadvantaged by missing out on more than half of all alerts generated as a result of incidents in other stores,” Fisher said.

Facewatch said it now works with more than 125 retailers operating thousands of stores in the UK. Its clients include national chains and independent businesses such as Budgens, Frasers Group, Flannels, Home Bargains, Sainsbury’s and Sports Direct, as well as garden centres and charity shops.

It also said it has formal data-sharing arrangements with police forces when supporting investigations. The new platform will sit within the company’s broader governance structure, which includes ISO/IEC 42001 certification for its artificial intelligence management system.

Dutch coffee-making giants Jacobs Douwe Egberts announced last summer that it would be closing down its Banbury factory fully by the end of 2026.

While coffee production at Ruscote Avenue ended in 2023, the full closure process has been wrapping up, with the company paying redundant staff to volunteer at local charities in north Oxfordshire.

The apprentice team at JDE Banbury

New public accounts for the coffeemaker has shown an operating profit increased by one per cent to £10.1m in 2025 (2024: £10.0m).

Jacobs Douwe Egberts has attributed this to lower distribution costs and administrative expenses.

Operating working capital has moved from -0.03 per cent to 0.17 per cent due to higher sales and changes to supplier payment terms.

The documents say: “The business remains committed to maintaining liquidity and effective cash management.”

READ MORE: Car boot sale to return after 20 years this weekend

Company director Rajat Chawla said: “The business is subject to a range of risks and uncertainties, including fluctuations in green coffee prices, changes in input costs, foreign exchange volatility, evolving competitive dynamics, technological developments, and demographic shifts in consumer behaviour.

“To mitigate these risks, the company closely monitors coffee prices, input costs, and exchange rates, benchmarking them regularly against external market data.

“Pricing strategies are reviewed and adjusted as necessary in response to material cost movements.”

He said that environmental regulations introduced last year, such as packaging taxes, will result in increased costs for the business in the future.

Banbury’s factory turned into a packaging-only facility back in 2023 when it stopped making coffee.

Jacobs Douwe Egberts’ ultimate parent company was bought by US giant Keurig Dr Pepper in the first half of 2026.

The factory was built by General Foods in the 1960s across 42 acres at a cost of £6m and employed 1,300 people.

In 1966, General Foods moved production of Bird’s Custard from the Custard Factory site in Birmingham to the new factory, along with the majority of its Brummie workers.

Jacobs Douwe Egberts has run the factory since 2015, after the business purchased the coffee side of Mondelez.

The closure serves as another blow for Banbury’s economy, which is also going to be hit by the expected closure of the HelloFresh distribution centre at Chalker Way.

HelloFresh said 271 people work at Banbury, but if the company closes it after a consultation, it’s expected jobs will be lost.

In a statement, the company said its distribution centre in Derby is now better equipped that Banbury.

A spokesman for HelloFresh said: “We have made the difficult decision to propose to close our Banbury site, subject to consultation.”

Eastern Airways, which operated regional services from airports across the UK, entered administration at the end of last year.

The firm suffered financial difficulties after the loss of a contract with airline KLM.

Now, a potential rescue deal for the company and its affiliated company, Air Kilroe, has fallen through.

When did Eastern Airways enter administration?

Eastern Airways suspended operations at the beginning of November, with all operated flights cancelled.

Selina Chadha, Consumer & Markets Director at the UK Civil Aviation Authority, said at the time: “We urge passengers planning to fly with this airline not to go to the airport as all Eastern Airways flights are cancelled.

“Eastern Airways customers should visit the Civil Aviation Authority’s website for the latest information.”

Eastern Airways was founded in 1997 and was headquartered at Humberside Airport near the village of Kirmington in North Lincolnshire.

The airline operated domestic, international and private charter flights, with more than a million passengers flying with the airline per rolling year.

It provided 200 flights per day and employed around 330 staff members at its peak, and as well as routes across the UK, it also had some routes to Ireland and Europe.

The airline also had its own hubs in Aberdeen and Humberside.

Eastern Airways to disappear after 29 years as rescue deal fails

A potential rescue deal for Eastern Airlines, and its affiliated company Air Kilroe, has now fallen through, meaning administrators are unable to save the airline.

Administrators RSM UK are now set to break up and sell the businesses’ assets separately, according to a report from The Sun.

A joint sale of Eastern and Air Kilroe had been looked at, as the companies had operated under a single business.

At the time the business collapsed, RSM said “high fixed overheads” and its staff base had “ultimately proved too high to be sustainable”.

Jamie Miller, partner at RSM UK and joint administrator, said at the time: “The unexpected and sudden termination of Eastern’s KLM contract, along with other economic factors, unfortunately left the directors with no choice but to appoint administrators.”

Now, all nine of Eastern Airways’ aircraft fleet have been sold, along with plane parts and components.

Airlines and travel companies that have gone into liquidation or administration in 2026

Four UK airlines have fallen into administration or liquidation this year:

Several airlines also entered liquidation in 2025, according to the UK Civil Aviation Authority, including:

• Blue Islands Limited (UK)
• Air Kilroe Limited t/a Eastern Airways (UK)
• Play Airlines (Iceland)

Several travel companies have also entered administration this year, including:

Luxury UK holiday company Salamander Voyages shut down back in April after entering administration.

Just last month, Groupia Ltd, which also trades as Groupia Golf, GoHen, StagWeb, Groupia School Trips, and Company Away Days, also fell into administration.

It offered customers “the best” group travel holidays to destinations in the UK and abroad, including Prague, Split, and Barcelona.

More than 750,000 travellers have used the company since it began back in 2002, booking everything from stag and hen weekends to golf trips, team tours, and spa breaks.

After 24 years in business, Groupia, which is based in Bath, has now fallen into administration.

Nigel Fox and Christopher Marsden of S&W Partners LLP were appointed joint administrators on June 16, according to the Groupia website.

It continues: “The Company has now ceased taking new bookings, and arrangements are in place with ABTOT to support customers with existing bookings.”

Bookings on or before August 31, 2026, are expected to go ahead as planned, the Groupia website says, thanks to an arrangement with ABTOT (financial protection company).

Any holidays booked with Groupia for after September 1, 2026, have been cancelled.

Have you been affected by any airline or travel company closures so far this year? Let us know in the comments.