Merican confectioneries on Oxford Street are facing a council inquiry into alleged failure to pay full business prices, reports say. Thirty US-themed confectioneries on London’s main landmark – including HMV’s once-iconic flagship – are being investigated by Westminster City Council amid concerns that έχουν 7.9 million £ in business prices has not been reached, MailOn reports. City councilors have criticized building owners for “turning a blind eye” to who leases their property, as it has led to a “US patisserie rash” in London. Stores avoid paying full business prices by subletting the property from an intermediary company rather than the freeholder or long-term tenant, the council argued. The council said it was taking enforcement action against some of the properties as part of various civil proceedings, including breaches of planning rules.
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The stores do not appear to be “commercially viable”, the council said in a statement. It added: “We believe that these properties are being used to avoid business interest rate accounts and possibly to commit other offenses.” There has been an expansion across the West End to stores selling American sweets, often at inflated prices, and other products and services such as steaming oils and foreign exchange. Some of the stores are said to inadvertently charge customers up to £ 45 for packages of sweets. The council said it had received complaints about stores not showing prices, with items costing more than expected at the checkout, as well as selling outdated food and imitations. The council said it had confiscated counterfeit and illegal products worth almost ρών half a million from stores. Nearly 4,500 disposable vapors with excessive nicotine levels or that do not comply with UK standards were found in a week. The tax investigation will look at a supposed tactic where owners use a single store name, but set up several limited liability companies to act as the rightful owner before closing, to avoid liability for business prices. Adam Hug, the council leader, said: “Anyone walking down Oxford Street is impressed by the ever-increasing number of American-style pastry shops and poor-quality souvenir shops. “It’s not just a sore eye. pose a threat to the condition and value of what is supposed to be the nation’s leading trade route. “The problem is that building owners turn a blind eye to those who rent them out, as this means that they are not responsible for business prices. “We will increase pressure on homeowners to make it clear that they are responsible for Oxford Street’s flooding from such stores.” The council said it was difficult to take action because the stores often operated with complex chains of leases, subleases and licenses. He said: “We urge homeowners to take advantage of initiatives such as the emerging West End system, which has helped some homeowners secure a 70 per cent reduction in corporate interest rate liability.”
