Moment shady London American candy shop worker threatens Express reporter
This is the shocking moment the Express's investigations editor, Zak Garner-Purkis, was threatened by a worker inside an American candy shop on Oxford Street. The Express was attacked, threatened and insulted when we attempted to speak to some of the shady shop owners operating from addresses on the iconic London street, where companies had been repeatedly set up and dissolved.
During one visit to a souvenir shop – which was discovered to have a secret underground tunnel stashed with £80,000 worth of counterfeit goods when it was raided by police last year – the man behind the counter tried to attack our videographer and threatened to "break the f****** camera". According to Mr Garner-Purkis, Red Bus Charms was investigated after tourists were charged £900 for two bags of sweets. "When it got raided, they found this secret room that was stashed with 80-grands-worth of illegal products," he said. "Since about 2020, five businesses have been set up and then dissolved from this address."
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However, the active director of the business listed on Companies House at the time of the raid continues to be listed as a director of the business that stands today.
As soon as they entered the shop, an angry worker lunged towards the Express's videographer. “I’ll break your f****** camera,” he shouted, thrusting his head forward.
While Mr Garner-Purkis tried to explain that they were there for a legitimate reason for entering the shop, the worker continued to shout: "Don't f****** record me! I will break your camera right now [...] Get the f*** out! No one wants to give an interview."
Eventually, a calmer colleague stepped in and claimed the director still linked to the address had disappeared. The landlord, he claimed, was even trying to find him.
Arguably one of the most famous shopping streets in the world, as well as being Europe's busiest, Oxford Street was once home to a wide range of big brand names, with flagship stores for M&S, John Lewis and Next, as well as the iconic Selfridges. However, since the pandemic, these established brands have increasingly been replaced with American Candy, Souvenir and ‘Harry Potter’ shops.
Raids in the area have skyrocketed over the past five years, with the local Westminster Council revealing in 2023 that as much as £9million had been lost to unpaid business rates as a result.
“If our flagship high street in the UK [that’s] a tourist hotspot for the UK has got dodgy shops, it reflects badly [on the country],” said Duncan Stephenson, policy and external affairs director at the Chartered Trading Standards Institute. "These dodgy shops are endemic across the UK, [and] London is one of the shining examples of that.”
Laila Cunningham, Reform UK’s candidate for London mayor, added that she felt it was a symbol of a deeper rot: “The spread of these shops across Oxford Street isn’t just an eyesore. It’s a symbol of Government failure. These are some of the most valuable retail spaces in Britain.
"They should be occupied by businesses that create jobs, pay their taxes and contribute to our economy. Instead, we’ve seen a proliferation of shops linked to unpaid debts, dissolved companies and repeated allegations of wrongdoing.”