Business Advice

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We provide advice to businesses based in Westminster, to help them comply with the law. The guidance sheets provided on this site are to help traders solve their own problems. If the information provided here does not solve your problem, please feel free to ask for advice.

For advice about a trading standards matter that you may have, please write to us at the address below or call our telephone advice line or fill in the enquiry form. Please note that we only provide advice to Westminster based traders.

The telephone advice line is 0207 641 1111. It is open from 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m, Monday to Friday.

• CLICK FOR GUIDANCE NOTES AND LEAFLETS

  
  

  Keeping your business fighting fit- There is a range of free support to find finance, raise productivity, or save money by reducing waste and saving energy. Whether you need to increase cashflow, keep your staff on, improve their skills and flexibility, or simply reduce costs, you can get real help to keep your business fighting fit.

  For more information visit www.businesslink.gov.uk/realhelp.

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Check latest news and Press Releases & Enforcement Actions for recent or new stories concerning Westminster Trading Standards.

If you need to know more about our Quality of Service Policy or our Enforcement Policy, please click here.

Tobacco law update

The law controlling the sale of tobacco has changed so that it is an offence for any person to sell tobacco to a person under the age of 18 years, whether or not for the child’s own use.

For further information on the changes (including the updated warning notice) click here.

If you are a Westminster business and need further advice, please click here.

Do you sell knives? Read on…

Knife retailers should be aware that the age restriction for buying knives has changed from 16 to 18 years.

It is now an offence for a person to sell the following to a person under the age of 18:

• any knife, knife blade or razor blade.
• any axe.
• any other article which has a blade or which is sharply pointed and which is made or adapted for use for causing injury to a person.

This restriction does not apply to folding pocket knives if the cutting edge of the blade is less than 3 inches or 7.62cm. Nor does it apply to replacement cartridges for safety razors, where less than 2mm of the blade is exposed.

Please click here to see further guidance.

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