Organised crime gangs are operating fake business fronts the length and breadth of Britain to such a huge extent that they are deemed the “number one threat” to stricken high streets. The Chartered Trading Standards Institute believe the sheer scale of organised crime on Britain’s shopping precincts is impacting the nation’s level playing field for business and is so severe that it could jeopardise future ambitions to grow the economy.
They warn that it is imperative that additional funding is released this week by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, and have also set out a series of policy calls for the Government to address the issues around organised crime that is blighting Britain’s nation of shopkeepers. They say an urgent injection of Government funding is needed in the budget to tackle the crime epidemic with proven multi-agency initiatives to disrupt crime gangs.
This includes long-term funding for the Clear, Hold, Build scheme – a three-step plan developed by the Home Office for police to tackle serious and organised crime that first involves clearing an area of criminals with sweeping arrest powers. It is then crucial to hold the area to prevent other criminal groups from taking over, and thirdly, to build the community through partnerships and interventions that make it less vulnerable to crime.
Ongoing funding is also needed for Op Machinize, a multi-agency police operation aimed at tackling the “grey economy”. This focuses on disrupting criminal networks that use cash-intensive businesses, such as barbershops, nail bars, car washes, and mini-marts, as fronts for illegal activities such as money laundering, selling illegal and counterfeit goods such as illicit tobacco and vapes, human trafficking, modern slavery, and illegal working.
The Institute believe the current threat posed by organised crime is undercutting legitimate businesses and depriving the Exchequer of millions of pounds in tax receipts needed to fund public services.
John Herriman, Chief Executive at CTSI, said: “Serious and organised crime is a persistent blight on our high streets and communities up and down the country. Our Trading Standards profession has highlighted the issue as the most serious threat to the legitimate businesses and consumers they protect. Such criminals do not care about the harm they cause, so long as they make a profit.”
Mr Herriman pointed out that the government’s repeated commitment to economic growth would need to be backed financially to help legitimate enterprises thrive instead of being left to struggle in the wake of criminal enterprises booming at their expense.
He added: “We are concerned that the growth in organised criminality is undercutting law-abiding business and depriving the Exchequer of much-needed funding to support public services. “Enforcement agencies, involved in disrupting organised criminality, including the police, National Crime Agency and Trading Standards, need greater resources to address the threat posed to UK consumers and law-abiding businesses.”
The move comes after a probe into shop “fronts” highlighted the scale of organised criminality on UK high streets, involving complex networks of distribution, storage, and retail of illegal goods in high street shops. Such “fronts” are becoming an increasing issue for the UK’s Trading Standards workforce and are a scourge of the high street, sometimes used as a front for serious and organised crime activities such as modern day slavery and human trafficking, distribution of weapons and drugs, money laundering, and the sale and supply of illegal and unsafe products such as counterfeit goods and illegal vapes and tobacco, to fund criminal lifestyles and other criminal activities.
