Cormac Kehoe here, The Fence’s investigative correspondent. For the last six months, I’ve been investigating the group that pioneered the model which has given Britain’s high streets the infamous souvenir shops, American Candy stores, and vape shops that we all know and hate.
My investigation traces the history of the group’s mid-2000s takeover of the souvenir trade in the West End, their expansion across the UK, and follows the money they used to fuel it all the way to Afghanistan.
It’s a story about how the British state has lost the ability to cope with bad actors, and the effect this has had on the built environment – and the billions now lost in tax.
It is, I think, a profoundly important story because it reveals the origin of a problem (the deterioration of the public space) which is fueling so much alienation, and which really should be so easy to fix.
Unpicking this tangled web took an awful lot of time, effort, and money. I urge you to sign up to a paid subscription to support this type of journalism.
In any case, please do share this story far and wide, it’s a story of national importance.
Many Thanks,
Cormac