London Centric
@londoncentric.media
A modern news outlet for London, covering the city in the old-fashioned way. Edited by @jim.londoncentric.media. Subscribe now for a 25% discount: www.londoncentric.media
What's up with the Harry Potter shops in central London?
London Centric's investigation into their finances was raised in the House of Commons by Kensington and Bayswater Labour MP Joe Powell. He asked ministers what it will take to get HMRC officials to check the shops are paying their taxes.
London Centric's investigation into their finances was raised in the House of Commons by Kensington and Bayswater Labour MP Joe Powell. He asked ministers what it will take to get HMRC officials to check the shops are paying their taxes.
July 1, 2025 at 12:49 PM
What's up with the Harry Potter shops in central London?
London Centric's investigation into their finances was raised in the House of Commons by Kensington and Bayswater Labour MP Joe Powell. He asked ministers what it will take to get HMRC officials to check the shops are paying their taxes.
London Centric's investigation into their finances was raised in the House of Commons by Kensington and Bayswater Labour MP Joe Powell. He asked ministers what it will take to get HMRC officials to check the shops are paying their taxes.
But what happens when the ice cream van is told to stop illegally blocking one of the most famous bridges in the world? Well they drive around the corner and wait for the policeman to go. Then return to the same spot. Today we found them under Waterloo railway station. This is their presumed route.
June 26, 2025 at 3:59 PM
But what happens when the ice cream van is told to stop illegally blocking one of the most famous bridges in the world? Well they drive around the corner and wait for the policeman to go. Then return to the same spot. Today we found them under Waterloo railway station. This is their presumed route.
Ta-da, the TWELVE BRITISH POUNDS cost of our two Mr Whippy with flakes was paid to Canev Sanli (the band often cycle through family members). A decade ago Canev was attacked with axes by a rival in a violent ice cream turf war.
June 26, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Ta-da, the TWELVE BRITISH POUNDS cost of our two Mr Whippy with flakes was paid to Canev Sanli (the band often cycle through family members). A decade ago Canev was attacked with axes by a rival in a violent ice cream turf war.
London Centric has spent the afternoon doing what we do every afternoon: Auditing the illegal ice cream vans run by south London’s Sanli family on Westminster Bridge in central London.
June 26, 2025 at 3:59 PM
London Centric has spent the afternoon doing what we do every afternoon: Auditing the illegal ice cream vans run by south London’s Sanli family on Westminster Bridge in central London.
"Lime leg" makes the transition from our newsletter to parliament in the space of three months. Lib Dem Caroline Pidgeon asks rail minister Peter Hendy what the government is doing about unregulated Lime bikes causing injuries. He says the government is very aware of London Centric's reporting.
June 18, 2025 at 2:25 PM
"Lime leg" makes the transition from our newsletter to parliament in the space of three months. Lib Dem Caroline Pidgeon asks rail minister Peter Hendy what the government is doing about unregulated Lime bikes causing injuries. He says the government is very aware of London Centric's reporting.
London Centric has had a reporter on this for the last week. We obtained CCTV footage which, when analysed by native Mandarin speakers, suggests the gang operating in London has accents from northern China.
March 27, 2025 at 1:00 PM
London Centric has had a reporter on this for the last week. We obtained CCTV footage which, when analysed by native Mandarin speakers, suggests the gang operating in London has accents from northern China.
We've located at least a dozen incidents across the capital over the last eighteen months in which similar attacks have taken place. One criminologist told us the attacks had the hallmarks of Chinese organised crime groups. The impact on those targeted and nearby residents is enormous.
March 27, 2025 at 1:00 PM
We've located at least a dozen incidents across the capital over the last eighteen months in which similar attacks have taken place. One criminologist told us the attacks had the hallmarks of Chinese organised crime groups. The impact on those targeted and nearby residents is enormous.
Is an organised crime gang carrying out an intimidation campaign with red paint across suburban London?
London Centric has the first video of the mysterious gang targeting properties across the capital with "brothel" graffiti.
Click through for🧵.
London Centric has the first video of the mysterious gang targeting properties across the capital with "brothel" graffiti.
Click through for🧵.
March 27, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Is an organised crime gang carrying out an intimidation campaign with red paint across suburban London?
London Centric has the first video of the mysterious gang targeting properties across the capital with "brothel" graffiti.
Click through for🧵.
London Centric has the first video of the mysterious gang targeting properties across the capital with "brothel" graffiti.
Click through for🧵.
Shafeeq says our article is defamatory. She says does not need English thanks to translation software and the help of her husband. She also said her shop employees do not recognise her name because she has appointed middle managers.
Read more (free trial):
www.londoncentric.media/p/harry-pott...
Read more (free trial):
www.londoncentric.media/p/harry-pott...
December 8, 2024 at 4:39 PM
Shafeeq says our article is defamatory. She says does not need English thanks to translation software and the help of her husband. She also said her shop employees do not recognise her name because she has appointed middle managers.
Read more (free trial):
www.londoncentric.media/p/harry-pott...
Read more (free trial):
www.londoncentric.media/p/harry-pott...
Of the four Harry Potter shops owned by Shafeeq in prominent London locations — Oxford Street, Piccadilly Circus, Whitehall, Strand — three are not charging customers VAT on purchases. One unit has up to £400k in outstanding business rates. Shafeeq says she abides by all tax laws.
December 8, 2024 at 4:39 PM
Of the four Harry Potter shops owned by Shafeeq in prominent London locations — Oxford Street, Piccadilly Circus, Whitehall, Strand — three are not charging customers VAT on purchases. One unit has up to £400k in outstanding business rates. Shafeeq says she abides by all tax laws.
Four of London's biggest Harry Potter shops have, in recent months, been taken over by Safoora Shafeeq. We tracked down the 31-year-old to Oxford where she lives with her family in a rented suburban house. By her own admission she has limited English but now controls a prominent retail chain.
December 8, 2024 at 4:39 PM
Four of London's biggest Harry Potter shops have, in recent months, been taken over by Safoora Shafeeq. We tracked down the 31-year-old to Oxford where she lives with her family in a rented suburban house. By her own admission she has limited English but now controls a prominent retail chain.
Thanks for the credit @inews.co.uk - another London Centric story in a national newspaper.
Read more here: www.londoncentric.media/p/exclusive-...
Read more here: www.londoncentric.media/p/exclusive-...
November 30, 2024 at 5:52 PM
Thanks for the credit @inews.co.uk - another London Centric story in a national newspaper.
Read more here: www.londoncentric.media/p/exclusive-...
Read more here: www.londoncentric.media/p/exclusive-...
Another London Centric exclusive picked up by a national news outlet. Our business model means we don’t chase clicks, we just want people to know they should subscribe if they want to get the news first.
So if you’re a journalist we *encourage* you to steal our stories. Just please credit and link.
So if you’re a journalist we *encourage* you to steal our stories. Just please credit and link.
November 30, 2024 at 8:35 AM
Another London Centric exclusive picked up by a national news outlet. Our business model means we don’t chase clicks, we just want people to know they should subscribe if they want to get the news first.
So if you’re a journalist we *encourage* you to steal our stories. Just please credit and link.
So if you’re a journalist we *encourage* you to steal our stories. Just please credit and link.
Exclusive: London's top private schools have been told to stop a long-running advertising campaign claiming you can attend their institutions for "no fees", after complaints that this was, er, rarely true. www.londoncentric.media/p/exclusive-...
November 29, 2024 at 9:43 AM
Exclusive: London's top private schools have been told to stop a long-running advertising campaign claiming you can attend their institutions for "no fees", after complaints that this was, er, rarely true. www.londoncentric.media/p/exclusive-...
Khan urged London Centric readers to "contact TfL directly" and keep a record of their travel, while accepting not everyone will still have a note of their overcharged journeys stretching back three months.
November 29, 2024 at 9:41 AM
Khan urged London Centric readers to "contact TfL directly" and keep a record of their travel, while accepting not everyone will still have a note of their overcharged journeys stretching back three months.
Spot The Urban Otter video, courtesy of Paul Powlesland.
November 27, 2024 at 3:11 PM
Spot The Urban Otter video, courtesy of Paul Powlesland.
Also in London Centric: Urban otters are on the march, now just ten miles from central London next to a Big Tesco on the North Circular. www.londoncentric.media/p/i-was-cove...
November 27, 2024 at 3:11 PM
Also in London Centric: Urban otters are on the march, now just ten miles from central London next to a Big Tesco on the North Circular. www.londoncentric.media/p/i-was-cove...
Fundamentally, the crime on Westminster Bridge is worthwhile because no fine is big enough to outweigh the amount of money that can be made. The Met were remarkably open about the challenges they face policing the area and the involvement of international organised crime.
November 22, 2024 at 1:52 PM
Fundamentally, the crime on Westminster Bridge is worthwhile because no fine is big enough to outweigh the amount of money that can be made. The Met were remarkably open about the challenges they face policing the area and the involvement of international organised crime.
The Sanlis were not keen to chat and have an unusual corporate structure. Others in the ice cream trade said this about them.
November 22, 2024 at 1:52 PM
The Sanlis were not keen to chat and have an unusual corporate structure. Others in the ice cream trade said this about them.
At the other end of Westminster Bridge are illegal ice cream vans, largely run by one family. After building up sources in the ice cream world, London Centric identified the Sanli family and tracked them down an ice cream depot under railway arches in London.
November 22, 2024 at 1:46 PM
At the other end of Westminster Bridge are illegal ice cream vans, largely run by one family. After building up sources in the ice cream world, London Centric identified the Sanli family and tracked them down an ice cream depot under railway arches in London.
Other people simply saw nothing.
November 22, 2024 at 1:46 PM
Other people simply saw nothing.
In fact there was a general reluctance to engage with matters of gambling licensing, suggesting things may not be entirely above board. This man tried to run away with a tourist’s money.
November 22, 2024 at 1:46 PM
In fact there was a general reluctance to engage with matters of gambling licensing, suggesting things may not be entirely above board. This man tried to run away with a tourist’s money.
Westminster Bridge is a hub for tourists - and crime. No punishment is enough to stop the criminals returning to make big money.
London Centric began by asking the teams running gambling operations on the bridge for their gambling licenses. None provided them.
London Centric began by asking the teams running gambling operations on the bridge for their gambling licenses. None provided them.
November 22, 2024 at 1:46 PM
Westminster Bridge is a hub for tourists - and crime. No punishment is enough to stop the criminals returning to make big money.
London Centric began by asking the teams running gambling operations on the bridge for their gambling licenses. None provided them.
London Centric began by asking the teams running gambling operations on the bridge for their gambling licenses. None provided them.
Then there's the increasingly popular "preposterous London property of the week" which features this room.
November 15, 2024 at 11:34 AM
Then there's the increasingly popular "preposterous London property of the week" which features this room.