Rocio says: Glencairn Crystal is a business worth raising a toast to. Established in 1981, the family-run firm based in East Kilbride has grown to become one of the largest manufacturers of whisky glasses in the world. The designs have a 3D trademark for the shape of the glass, giving its product a distinct look.
Legal fees can swell to hundreds of thousands a year, and it can take years to bring companies to court. Time and again, by the time Glencairn has managed to get fake products taken down, the damage has already been done – customers have bought dupes and unscrupulous retailers have made money off the back of their workmanship.
Small firms – the backbone of the British economy – that should be spending money to reinvest in their businesses are instead having to divert resources to fight for their product’s reputation.
But as Which?’s Freedom of Information (FOI) request has laid bare, counterfeit goods and other crimes, such as scams, are not always being investigated in many parts of the UK because they are being deprioritised by trading standards teams with limited resources.
For instance, 19 councils across the country said they didn’t carry out any routine inspections of businesses in the last financial year. Forty-five councils deprioritised proactive surveillance such as planned test purchases; 25 councils deprioritised intellectual property theft or counterfeit goods; 24 councils cut back on checking that businesses are not short-changing customers on the size of products or servings (known as weights and measures); and eight deprioritised investigating scams.
Cash-strapped consumers still battling the high cost of living may be tempted to buy mimics of expensive products, such as Dyson airwrap hairdryers, but could be left paying the price when these dupes fail because they aren’t held to the same high standards as the originals. Suffolk Trading Standards reported intercepting 500 dupes last year that were deemed an electric shock and fire risk – but more are likely to be slipping through the net.
Clearly, this isn’t sustainable. Serious and urgent reform is needed. We want the government to restructure the consumer enforcement system, with a greater focus on its effectiveness, how well it uses intelligence and shares services, and with greater oversight and accountability to ensure a risk-based approach.
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