City council seizes £1m worth of counterfeit products in ‘US Candy Store’ crackdown

Westminster City Council has called for stricter checks on those setting up companies in the UK after announcing it has confiscated £1m worth of counterfeit products in a 15-month-long crackdown on US candy stores on Oxford Street.

The council reported that it seized almost 7,000 items in its latest round of enforcement, which saw the confiscation of counterfeit vape pens, mobile phone cases, unsafe charging leads and travel adapters, and power banks with no safety labelling or UK company details.

The action also uncovered that some shops were selling wireless earphones at different price points depending on the customer.

Commenting on the £1m milestone, Council Leader, Cllr Adam Hug, said Westminster was dealing sophisticated and determined groups that exploits UK legal loopholes to trade from shop lets.

"But these people now realise they are dealing with an equally determined council which will protect consumers with ongoing enforcement. We are also chasing £9m in unpaid business rates through the courts."

Cllr Hug stated that the "biggest issue enabling unscrupulous traders is the fact they are usually run by shell companies with fictitious directors.

"There is a glaring lack of governance around setting up companies in the UK with only cursory checks on who the directors are," he added.

He called on the Government to implement the new Economic Crime Bill to help clamp down on these loopholes and to provide government agencies such as Companies House and HMRC with greater powers and funding.

"As a council, we are doing all we can – but we need increased cross-government support," Hug concluded.

An update on the enforcement in November of last year revealed that the number of such shops on the 1.2-mile-long shopping street in central fell from 30 to 21 as a result of the action.

The November update also noted that the council had been paid £250,000 in arrears by two other companies to avoid court action.

Adam Carey