Oxford Street: US sweet shops will never pay £7.9m tax bill, says council

Westminster Council said trying to tax the Oxford Circus shops was like riding a "merry-go-round".

Westminster Council has admitted it is unlikely it will recover £7.9m in missed business rates from 30 US-themed sweet shops on London's Oxford Street.

More than £474,000 of counterfeit and illegal goods have been seized from American candy stores in the past six months, including unsafe vapes.

But the council said trying to tax the shops was like riding a "merry-go-round" as companies pop-up then vanish.

One of the council's chief officers said they were "a problem".

"To be honest they will never be able to pay business rates," Westminster City Council revenue director, Martin Hinckley, said.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), Mr Hinckley said: "It's a bit of a merry-go-round. If Oxford Street eventually recovers this will disappear, until then we are likely to have a problem."

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Enforcement officers have found shell companies with no assets often own the licence certificate for the candy and souvenir shops.

The council is able to send bailiffs into stores to try and seize items to make some of the money back.

But as the shops sell sweets - many of which do not meet trading standards - they are not able to find much that can be resold.

Enforcement officers previously seized counterfeit "Wonka" bars

Westminster City Council trading standards said complaints included out-of-date food and counterfeit "Wonka" bars.

Last month officials announced they had discovered nearly 4,500 disposable vapes, which allegedly contained excessive levels of nicotine or did not conform to UK standards.

The council hopes the shops will all disappear from Oxford Street if more trusted brands move back into the area.

It has set up a West End pop-up scheme which gives landlords up to a 70% cut in business rates if they allow start-up businesses to use empty shops.

The aim is to move landlords away from housing US-themed sweet shops and instead bring back "higher-quality shops to central London", the LDRS said.

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