11/07/2017 London News

We expose the high end cosmetics store breaking the law -

some of its staff earn as little as ?2 per hour and are

They stress you every day, six days, 12 hours, you are under stress all

the time. The workers are denied basic rights

like paid sick leave. One legal expert says it's

a flagrant breach of employment law. These are a hard-working people

being deprived of valuable employment rights, and it strikes me

that it is exploitation. From east to west, new plans to

expand wanton's multi-billion pound tech centre to rival world cities.

Plus, it may be full of beans, but can Coffey really help you live

longer? CHEERING

And as Joe contour wows the crowd and get through to the semifinals,

we will have the weather live from Wimbledon. -- Johanna

Welcome to the programme with me, Riz Lateef.

We expose a London company exploiting its staff -

in some cases earning the equivalent of ?2 per hour.

If you're employed, it's against the law to be earning less

than the minimum wage or deny workers benefits like

But our undercover filming shows how a cosmetics

chain in the Capital gets round this, by insisting

they sign a contract saying they're self-employed.

BBC London's been investigating a company operating in some of the

UK's most prestigious shopping locations.

We found workers seemingly paid below the minimum

In what is called bogus self employment.

This manager tells our undercover researcher that to

work at her company she must be self-employed.

Soap Co, with no connection to other friends with similar names,

sells skin products from the Dead Sea in outlets at the Westfield

and at their high end Sakare stores in Covent Garden and Mayfair.

We heard they were treating staff badly.

Our undercover researcher, Clara, will go and work for

Self-employed people should have the freedom

to choose when they work, but here, it's a mandatory schedule.

They have to be at work for around 60 hours, six days a week.

Do you know if we can take days off on the weekends?

A self-employed person would ordinarily be free to

do the work or not do the work on a given day.

And that's not what we saw was happening here.

And they are highly controlled, with penalties

for not cleaning properly and using their mobiles.

Some of the workers Clara speaks to our exhausted and

This woman from Bulgaria, like many of the workers here, was

recruited from abroad with the offer of accommodation and a job.

When people are pushing you and the stress you every day,

six days, 12 hours, you are under stress all the time.

I was thinking that I will come to do something

with my life, and after that, and became...

By claiming staff are self-employed, this company avoids

having to pay a whole host of in work benefits.

Such a sick and holiday pay, and the minimum wage.

When Carla collects her first pay packet, it is well under the

national minimum wage for the hours worked.

For 90 hours, I've received, like, ?200.

Which makes it, like, ?3, less than ?3 an hour.

This is false self employment, and this is

much more an employment relationship than any I have seen, but

unfortunately, quite an exploitative employment relationship.

This is the owner of Soap Co in Finchley with his

sister from our undercover recording in charge of day-to-day operations.

There are two other owners from America and Israel.

In a statement, Soap Co said they took the

responsibilities under UK law very seriously.

They said, we are therefore extremely concerned to

learn about the allegations made by some individuals about the company's

As a consequence, we are reviewing those

allegations and the implications, if any, regarding the employment status

We also asked these two managers about their

understanding of the working relationship here, but they didn't

Soap Co work in London's top shopping locations, but

there are big questions for customers with skincare products of

the working relationship with their staff.

I'm joined by our political correspondent, Karl Mercer.

Karl, an isolated case or an example of wider practice?

I have beans begin to employment lawyers and unions as afternoon, and

many of the people I spoke to recognise much of what we saw in the

report there. It does appear that they wouldn't have seen all of these

things in one individual workplace. This is probably at the more serious

end of things. The all pointed to devising the self appointment

contracts. One person described it as an epidemic. They said it's not

just in detail, the taxi trade or delivering of food, but seeing it

more and more it increasingly in the care sector. Something we are very

much aware of and one union said they had ten major cases already

underweight and preserve workers' rights in cases like this.

We've been hearing today about a Government commissioned

report recommending fairer contracts for workers.

Matthew Taylor did a report for Government looking at modern working

practices, looking at a whole range of things, but certainly

self-employment and this plate big part in it. He wanted workers

relabelled as independent contractors, giving them more

rights. They would get things except as an holiday benefits, and

enhancement runways, better enforcement on the Government. That

would possibly bring in higher taxes, because a lot of these firms

would have to pay national insurance contributions. There would be a win

in there for the Government. How has his report on down? People are

sceptical about whether it will actually be introduced and brought

in by the Government. The union Theatre hasn't gone far enough. A

lot of the firms involved, people like Uber, giving it a cautious

welcome, but thing don't let lose the flexibility that these contacts

blowing. Bring. The capital's tech sector has

attracted more investment than any other European city

since the Brexit vote. But there are concerns that this

could change once the UK Well, one Council is taking steps

to maintain London's status as Europe's leading city

for tech innovation. Let s find out more

from Katharine Carpenter, No prizes for guessing where I am,

the BBC's old home at the Television Centre, which is now being turned

into luxury apartments with a luxury swimming pool at the top. Why does

this matter? The idea is to build a sense of community here. This is the

reason. Look at the building work going on. This part of west London

is absolutely booming. It's estimated that a new tech company is

born here in the capital every hour. Hammersmith and Fulham Council wants

to see themselves the thing themselves right here.

It's got table football, the quirky office mascot and the trendy open

The education technology company Firefly in west

London has all the hallmarks of a growing tech business.

But here in Hammersmith and Fulham, they want to

The council wants the borough to become a centre

for entrepreneurs of innovation, but attracting talent

here and retaining it has become all the more

Particularly with so much competition now with the rest of the

While the French president is offering

fast-track visas for tech employees, west London is offering

this - an innovation campus at White City, the centrepiece

If I was an entrepreneur and I was thinking of

setting up a tech business tomorrow, why would I come to Hammersmith and

Fulham and not to east London or Paris or Berlin?

If you came here, you would find a local authority

that was genuinely determined to help you thrive.

Doesn't want to get in your way, it wants to support you.

Give you access to finance, getting affordable and flexible

office space, introduce you to people with new ideas, and help

East London's Silicon Roundabout has had success

with similar pledges, but tech is lucrative, and it's hardly

surprising the west wants a slice of the action.

Last year, ?2.2 billion was invested in London's digital tech

It creates around 300,000 jobs, and the capital gives birth to

But Hammersmith and Fulham hopes it might have the edge.

Thanks to the huge brains and innovation

experience at Imperial College, its new partner.

Our purpose from Imperial College's point of view is

to create the facilities and the spaces for the most fabulous ideas

to be developed and turned into life, and put out for society

The founders of Firefly had their big idea when they

They say the biggest draw west is flexibility.

One of the reasons we've taken the longterm

decision to be in west London is that there is actually more

office space and a wider range of office

space, so that as we have grown from two people

when we started here in

Hammersmith to 50, to 100 people next year, that there are a wider

range of options to do that in west London.

So, now it's up to west London to deliver and take on the

This isn't just about bricks and water, the council says it is about

building an ecosystem of innovation. He might have scientists going to

into local schools, local training. If a tech company does decide to

basic self here, there might be a local workforce ready and waiting.

That could become all the more important and I do stress if there

are fewer workers coming from the US after Brexit. Now the council have

too delivered a plan for this part of time. -- coming from you.

A huge growth in the number of minicabs in London

is making our city's air pollution road congestion worse.

That's according to a group of MP's who are calling for urgent action

to limit the number of private hire vehicles in the capital.

Here's our transport correspondent, Tom Edwards.

The average speed of traffic in London has now dropped to 7.8 mph.

Some blame a big increase in cars like the one in front, minicabs. Ash

has been a minicab driver for six months. He worries about a limit

being put on the number of vehicles Lakers. We are trying to earn a

living by fair means. Rather than signing on the dole or claiming from

the Government. We are working hard 12 or 14 hours a day, trying to earn

a living. If the cap it, what am I going to do? I can't find a job.

This is a job for me. I think it would be totally unfair.

Tempers can fray as cabs jockey for space. The number of minicab

licenses has doubled since 2010, in part due to apps like Uber. Now

there are calls for the Government to give the mayor powers to cap that

number. What we are calling for is a cross-party group of MPs from London

to give the Mayor of London the power that needs to cap private hire

in London to bring them back down to more sustainable levels in the

interests of all Londoners. We think the market has been oversupplied.

People have been promised gold at the end of rainbow. In fact, there

is a bag of dirt. These promises to get great returns that aren't really

there, working in congested, long arduous hours about the reality of a

proper income for people and their families. Not like others the

increased congestion is due to road and construction work and a rising

delivery vans. Capping private hire vehicles would only increase fears.

I think is transparently anti-consumer move designed to the

black cap industry, it means higher prices, longer wait times and worse

service for consumers. The mayor says he has no legal powers to cap

the number of minicabs, but he is now considering charging them for

entering the congestion charging zone. My message for the Government

is stop being control freaks. Stop thinking you have all the ideas, you

know what to do about our city. Londoners know far better than you

do and what you need to do is give us the powers to control the amount

of minicab drivers in London. Tonight the Government said they had

no plans to devolve more powers. Tonight, the London mayor is not in

Tonight, the London mayor is not in charge of London bus backstreets.

As those he could London love that Coffey, but couldn't because live

longer, to? And died at Tate modern looking at the Art of the black

civil rights movement and how it influenced the struggle on the side

of the pond. -- I am at. Turning now to an idea that's

already been adopted Now for the first time in the UK,

nursery school children and people who live in a care home are spending

time together every day Graham Satchell has been

to Wimbledon to find out more. Young and old, singing,

playing, interacting When it officially opens

in September, this will be the first nursery in the country to be sited

in the grounds of the care home. # I'm very pleased to meet you,

I'm very pleased to meet you.# Children spend more

of their time away from other age groups

and the elderly spend more of their time

away from everybody else, so there is something just very natural

about bringing them back together. A sports day to

celebrate the opening, and 87-year-old Faye is showing

off her egg spoon skills. Children from the nearby nursery

had been coming here on weekly trips since January,

and Faye has loved it. We sing and dance,

and the play games. I mean, for most of the residents

let go, they have a Bringing young and old together

like this already happens Experts say the

advantages are clear, particularly for the elderly

in tackling isolation, loneliness. Finding the right sites

with enough space, and of course, making sure both

children and adults are safe. Back inside, 90-year-old

Walter is making glasses out of Play-Doh

and passing on years of wisdom. Careful play arranged

by grown-ups is teaching them many things they don't

know they're learning. As an old person, you know,

coming to the end of my life, it's a great joy to see new human

beings growing and growing. There is certainly

hope here that it will Time to wake up

and smell the coffee? Well, London scientists have been

involved in one of two studies suggesting coffee drinkers have

longer life expectancy. Could it be the clearest evidence

yet that the drink may be But others have urged caution saying

the research isn't conclusive. If only kids about the Peter Falk

the. If only you could smell the beautiful copy. There is a tasting

session going on, these burritos are not only having a great time

slurping on it. They may actually be doing themselves some good.

They may actually be doing themselves some good.

We really do take our coffee seriously here.

In the UK, we buy more than two billion cups of this a year.

We have two, kind of, balance out a lot...

In London, it's no longer a drink associated with likes

of vices such as cigarettes or alcohol.

A daily cup or three is part of life for people who take

An increase of consuming more black coffee

rather than any type, and really looking

whether you put sugar or

sweetener and all these kinds of little details to how people

And I think with that, people realise that

actually is not a coffee that causes them any problems, it's the

additional stuff that you put in a coffee that

Researchers at Imperial College London monitored half a million

The effects of coffee were noticeable.

Men who drank coffee, on average, lived an

That's an average nine minute a cup if you're a man, three-minutes

If you look at people who smoke and people who

Which ever way we subdivide the half a million people

who have been part of our investigation, we consistently find

that those who consume coffee have a lower mortality.

And the more they drink coffee the lower their

Scientists still haven't worked out exactly what it

is, if anything, in coffee that makes us live longer.

There are so many other factors at play here,

such as what we eat, or what exercise we do.

I think it shows that there is no need to give up

It can be part of the healthy diet, but I wouldn't

necessarily recommend people going out and starting to drink more.

Someone said that you should take a brisk walk to a coffee shop

and then turn around and go home again,

because the brisk walk is going to do you far more good

There is no recommendation about how much we need to drink for

Although one thing we should bear in mind is what we add to it.

Muhammad Ali as depicted by Andy Warhol in his famous

It's part of an exhibition at the Tate Modern, which features

art made during America's civil rights movement and the emergence

Alice Bhandhukravi has taken a look to discover how the African American

struggle was strongly echoed here in London.

More and more, I have come to realise that racism is a world

problem. Martin Luther King bringing his dreams of freedom and equality

to London. It is 1964 and that is where this exhibition at Tate modern

begins. The work of mostly American artists at the height of the civil

rights movement. But if the movement that was felt here too. The Black

Panthers, the militant party that formed in the US to combat white

oppression, had it when you're in the UK. This man's parents were both

British Black Panthers. His father was a writer and campaigner.

Brothers and sisters and I were completely immersed in what the

struggle was. It was hard to get away from it. My dad organised the

biggest mass demonstration of young people because of the incident were

a lot of children were killed in a fire born in a house fire. I

remember being in the truck with my dad at the forefront of the march.

You were a mini Black Panther goes back yes, I was. This show is not

straight politics. It's about the contribution of black artists over a

20 year period. British people are obsessed with black music and film

from this time. We grew up listening to James Brown and Aretha Franklin.

The art of this time is much less well-known. I hope that the

knowledge about this period will inspire people to come and see

chapter of the story that they may not know so much about. Do you think

that is so relevant today? It is completely relevant today. Live in

as turbulent a time of the artists who went through the 60s and 70s

were living in. They went too many protests, like our viewers. Younger

viewers may not be aware that seems like this took place in London in

the 1970s, but that is precisely why they should be remembered. You have

to know your history and worries came from if you want to shoot for

your going. I think 100% people should come down here and be

inspired by what has gone before and what he can then call on. -- then go

on to achieve. Let's cross to Wimbledon now

and to Wendy for the weather. So used to tournament

basking in sunshine, Absolutely. They have all gone home

now. Have you ever seen as hell look so empty glove they sat there

devoted to their sport for a good couple of hours watching that

fantastic match. These Brits have not been Dam Biggar at all. How

could they be? Has been raining fairly steadily since about 4:30pm.

It crossed through Surrey before that. It will now continue through

the rest of this evening and indeed overnight as. There have been heavy

bursts amongst all that and I will continue to be the case as we go

through the night, especially in the early hours of the morning. A great

watering for the gardens and the parks. I imagine it's not much fun a

few are heading out at the moment. As you are up really early tomorrow

morning, you might see the tail end of that rain moving away towards the

South East. It should have cleared London and the South East by 7am or

something like that. Then a bit of a windy spell through tomorrow morning

and all high pressure sites to build on. When the afternoon, the winds

will ease back and we will have something to breaking through.

Pieces of cloud here and there, but looking fine for Wednesday in the

afternoon. Plenty of Lake Europe but with temperatures getting into 22 or

23 degrees. This fine weather continues into Thursday as well.

There will be perhaps a little bit more cloud is as go through the day

on Thursday, what we will certainly start with some sunny spells, just

the risk of one or two showers of the day goes on. We might draw in

some warmer here from the South East on Thursday. Perhaps 23, 24 it

Celsius. The outlook is something similar. High pressure staying

weather bright the way through the week as well. There will be some

decent sunny spells and perhaps just one or two showers first thing on

Friday. Largely a dry entered the day. Again, a few are open to what

it bit of tennis or 80 heading down here, there is plenty of dry weather

to be had. The weekend will turn warmer, more humid as well. There

could be further outbreaks of rain here and there, but it has been a

very wet afternoon here at Wimbledon. It will continue to be so

as we go through tonight as well. A good excuse to get the special

wellies on when the weather is like this. You're been cheering us up,

windy. Thank you very much. The Government's announced there'll

be a UK-wide inquiry At least 2,400 people

are thought to have died after being given NHS blood products

infected with hepatitis C and HIV It was a nail-biting finish for

contact she reached the semifinals. Any the going into match she was

Rhule not going to give new area much for free, so I definitely had

to be the one at there to create my own chances and I felt I did that

and I feel fortunate enough that I won. Congratulations to her.

More from me later during the 10:00pm news.

Plenty more, though, of course, on our website.

From all of us on the team, thanks for watching and enjoy your evening.

This is what it takes to get her to come home, you know?