The UK’s leading wholesalers are ready to stand united and blow the whistle on illegal rivals, according to new research conducted by The Grocer.
Pouring scorn on previous suspicions that retailers had been afraid to get involved for fear of reprisals from organised gangs, all of those who took part in our survey said they were prepared to work with the police and customs to secure prosecutions and eliminate this threat to their businesses.
Many said that they were already co-operating.
However, half of those polled in our survey of The Grocer Big 30 leading wholesalers said that they would be afraid of naming offenders. “As the wholesalers perpetrating these crimes are already outside the law, they are more than capable of violence. It is up to customs and the police to investigate these operations more rigorously,” declared one worried operator.
While acknowledging the threat, another said that he was still prepared to co-operate with the appropriate authorities.
The survey also suggests that organised gangs are now operating illegal wholesale businesses in all areas of the UK. All of the wholesalers who took part in our reader panel survey said they were now aware of illegal operators in their areas.
The organised gangs are believed to be sizeable, but
police and customs have found it difficult to build meaningful cases against them.
Of the wholesalers who responded that they were aware of the problem, the vast majority (87%) said it was significantly damaging their businesses.
A major wholesaler said: “They are dealing in the most important business areas for wholesalers and independents - alcohol and tobacco. The current market is aggressive enough among legitimate traders, and people gaining an illegal advantage through duty, VAT and tax fraud are having an enormous and growing effect.”
Our survey backs up this claim, as only 25% of those surveyed believed that there had been any improvement in the situation over the past five years.
Another wholesaler claimed gangs’ operations had become increasingly complex.
He said: “These rogue businesses now appear to be far more sophisticated and geographically far-reaching. Previously they only appeared to operate on a local basis.”
Ronan Hegarty
Reader Panel: Wholesalers
Pouring scorn on previous suspicions that retailers had been afraid to get involved for fear of reprisals from organised gangs, all of those who took part in our survey said they were prepared to work with the police and customs to secure prosecutions and eliminate this threat to their businesses.
Many said that they were already co-operating.
However, half of those polled in our survey of The Grocer Big 30 leading wholesalers said that they would be afraid of naming offenders. “As the wholesalers perpetrating these crimes are already outside the law, they are more than capable of violence. It is up to customs and the police to investigate these operations more rigorously,” declared one worried operator.
While acknowledging the threat, another said that he was still prepared to co-operate with the appropriate authorities.
The survey also suggests that organised gangs are now operating illegal wholesale businesses in all areas of the UK. All of the wholesalers who took part in our reader panel survey said they were now aware of illegal operators in their areas.
The organised gangs are believed to be sizeable, but
police and customs have found it difficult to build meaningful cases against them.
Of the wholesalers who responded that they were aware of the problem, the vast majority (87%) said it was significantly damaging their businesses.
A major wholesaler said: “They are dealing in the most important business areas for wholesalers and independents - alcohol and tobacco. The current market is aggressive enough among legitimate traders, and people gaining an illegal advantage through duty, VAT and tax fraud are having an enormous and growing effect.”
Our survey backs up this claim, as only 25% of those surveyed believed that there had been any improvement in the situation over the past five years.
Another wholesaler claimed gangs’ operations had become increasingly complex.
He said: “These rogue businesses now appear to be far more sophisticated and geographically far-reaching. Previously they only appeared to operate on a local basis.”
Ronan Hegarty
Reader Panel: Wholesalers
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