Harry Potter and the unpaid tax bill

A London Centric investigation reveals one of the capital's most garish gift shops owes hundreds of thousands of pounds to the local council — and uncovers its mysterious owners.

One of my favourite things about running London Centric is the emails and WhatsApps from readers. You tell me what you’ve been missing from coverage about London — and pose questions you want answering about life in the capital.

A month ago subscriber Stefano Scallione got in touch to ask why there had been a recent “influx” of Harry Potter-themed gift shops on the streets of central London. “Thought it might be an interesting subject to explore,” he said.

Well, Stefano’s email started an investigation that took us deep into the murky financial world of some of the West End’s most prominent retail sites. Over the last few weeks I’ve been working with reporter Cormac Kehoe, who eventually tracked down the owner of some of these shops – and got a surprising response to our questions.

Today’s London Centric story, available below for paying subscribers (free trials are available, or sign-up now for 25% off) is an extraordinary tale of strange businesses practices happening in plain sight on some of the capital's busiest streets – and the impression of London that tourists are presented with. It also raises some serious questions for the authorities about activities that are happening on their watch.

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London’s Harry Potter shops, the mysterious owner, and the £400,000 tax bill.

Safoora Shafeeq, owner of four unofficial Harry Potter shops, and her husband Shafeeq Pallivalappil.

Safoora Shafeeq is, on paper, one of London’s most successful start-up retail entrepreneurs. Yet you won’t find her at glitzy black-tie balls with the rest of the capital’s business elite this festive season.

This summer the 31-year-old Indian national became the legal owner of four of the most prominent Harry Potter-themed gift shops that have sprung up over the last few years in high-profile central London locations.

Her outlets, with names such as “Wizards and Witches” and “Magical Platform”, occupy large retail units in some of the most famous tourist spots in the country, including Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square and Oxford Street.

Wizards and Wonders, an unofficial Harry Potter shop close to Trafalgar Square, which is legally owned by Safoora Shafeeq.

The stores, which are expensively kitted out with replica Ford Anglia cars and other props from the film franchise, contain hundreds of thousands of pounds’ worth of Hogwarts-themed clothing, wands, and other Harry Potter goods. Even in the midst of a sluggish economy, the shops are full of customers and doing a busy trade, catering to the enormous tourist market still hooked on the works of JK Rowling. 

London Centric set out to profile the woman who had suddenly taken control of a fast-growing retail chain, in what appeared to be a distinctly British business story. Instead, we found a tale that raised questions about non-payment of taxes, enforcement of corporate law, and the declining state of London’s supposedly high-end shopping streets. 

A map of unofficial Harry Potter shops in London, with Safoora Shafeeq’s outlets in blue. Illustration by Carly A-F commissioned by London Centric.

Getting in touch with Safoora Shafeeq was not easy. When workers in her shops were asked for their owner’s contact details, London Centric was given similar responses: “They’re not in” or “they don’t come in here”.

Eventually London Centric tracked Safoora Shafeeq down to Botley, a modest suburb of Oxford. She lives there in a rented 1930s semi-detached house near to the city’s ring road with her husband, Shafeeq Pallivalappil, and their two children.

Originally from the southern Indian state of Kerala, the couple arrived in Oxford in 2020. According to Shafeeq Pallivalappil’s Facebook page, they found life hard at first and he had to work multiple jobs to meet the high cost of living in the UK. He wrote about putting in extra hours “on public holidays and weekends, without any extra payment” while his wife, according to neighbours, cared for their children and does not appear to have a track record running businesses.

Yet this summer Safoora Shafeeq filed documents at Companies House to become the legal owner and operator of four Harry Potter-themed shops in central London, collectively employing dozens of people and selling highly-priced merchandise to tens of thousands of tourists in areas with some of the most expensive real estate in Europe.

One of these outlets owes Westminster council as much as £400,000 in unpaid business rates, according to individuals with knowledge of the shop’s operations, while three of her four shops do not currently charge the 20% VAT sales tax.

When London Centric knocked on Safoora Shafeeq’s door to ask how she took ownership of the chain of Harry Potter-themed shops and whether she is paying the required taxes, she initially didn’t answer. Ten minutes later she emerged and started jogging down the street, while calling her husband and putting him on speakerphone.

At first she denied owning the Harry Potter shops, despite signing legal documents stating she is the sole shareholder and director of the businesses, roles which come with a large number of legal obligations. Instead, she told London Centric she is just “running” them.

Asked who the real owner was, she deferred to her husband, who failed to answer. He also said that his wife did not speak English to a sufficient standard to answer our questions. His exasperation was clear, and he later had a question for London Centric in return: “Who are you to check all this?”