Both the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) and British Independent Retailers Association (Bira) have called for urgent and coordinated action after a BBC investigation revealed that organised criminal gangs are using high street stores to sell cocaine, cannabis, laughing gas and prescription drugs.
While recent reports have shown the problem is not a new one, the latest BBC investigation suggests the situation is getting significantly worse.
Undercover filming across four neighbouring West Midlands towns found drugs being openly offered for sale, with legitimate businesses reporting intimidation, knife and gun violence and attempts by criminal gangs to force them out of their premises.
Analysis of local news reports found drugs had been found in more than 70 shops and linked premises across the country, from Devon to Norfolk to Northern Ireland.
The ACS has once again called on the Government to take urgent action to tackle the rogue traders operating through mini marts, pop up shops, dodgy barbers and other shops on high streets across the UK.
For several years, the ACS has been campaigning for the Government to do more to support responsible businesses as they see illicit activity taking place all around them, often linked to a wider underworld of criminal activity.
In March, along with the Chartered Trading Standards Institute, the National Business Crime Centre and Labour MPs Melanie Onn, Sadik Al-Hassan and Julie Minns, the ACS wrote to consumer protection minister Kate Dearden, calling for government action.
The ACS also published a report in 2024, warning that Trading Standards would need an additional £140m and hundreds of enforcement officers to deal with the growing problem of the illicit trade.
ACS chief executive, Ed Woodall (right), said: “Rogue businesses are popping up across the UK, selling a broad range of stolen, illicit and dangerous products that cause enormous damage to communities and the responsible retailers operating around them.
“This is not a fair fight for responsible convenience stores…”
“This is not a fair fight for responsible convenience stores, who have a long list of procedures in place to ensure that they both follow and enforce the law. Rogue traders don’t have any of that, and yet still carry on without fear of reproach from the enforcement community which is drastically under-resourced to deal with the problem.
“The Government has established a cross-departmental taskforce to address the problem of rogue traders, but we need action now. There’s an additional £10m fund dedicated to tackling the illicit trade which needs to be allocated urgently to support the responsible retailers that are suffering as a result of those who don’t follow the rules and don’t see any consequences.”
In addition, Bira, which works with over 6,000 independent retailers across the UK, says the findings represent the latest and most serious threat to the future of the high street and has called for action.
Andrew Goodacre (below left), CEO of Bira, said: “This issue has been highlighted before and it’s deeply troubling that it appears to be getting worse.
“This is just the latest and most serious challenge facing independent retailers and is one that demands urgent action.”
“The presence of criminal gangs on our high streets is just the latest and most serious challenge facing independent retailers and is one that demands urgent action. No legitimate retailer should have to trade alongside criminal operations, and no community should have to accept this as normal.
“Tackling this requires every stakeholder to play their part. Police, Trading Standards, retailers and landlords all have a role, and we’d particularly urge landlords to be far more diligent about who they are letting their premises to.
”We should seriously consider introducing money laundering checks for tenants as a matter of course. Criminal gangs can’t take hold of our high streets if they can’t get through the door in the first place.”
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