Cpcmcredit Blog

Bagehots column in The Economist is always worth a read and sadly is only available behind a paywall but this weeks piece is an excellent take down of the present situation with the numerous black economy businesses which are seemingly thriving across the UK, often at the expense of the legitimate traders

HMGs seemingly blasé attitude to these abuses are in stark contrast to their obsession with illegal immigrants which is perverse given that these businesses are a substantial element of the attraction for those trying to work without being in any way traceable

Highlighted are three particular sectors. Those strange “American Sweet shops”, rag trade sweatshops and hand car washes. Apparently there are around 5000 of the latter and a survey found that only 7% were able to produce actual payslips and only 10% had insurance. They also say that the way too identify the legitimacy of the enterprise is to observe whether the workers are actually wearing boots or simply sodden trainers. Good point.Sweatshops are still proliferating and apparently only 3000 of the country’s 5 million businesses was actually investigated by HMRC for paying slave wages with a prosecution total of …… 16.

As for those strange “sweet shops”, its clear, councils have been trying their best to chase these out of town but whilst stricter identity checks are being required for company directors the government is apparently not guaranteeing Companies House any powers to prosecute, which surely defeats the object?