Car washing businesses disappearing?

[eldar]

The car washing businesses, mostly staffed by by Eastern Europeans it appeared, have closed down in the past three weeks. Is this a local thing, East Midlands, or something more general?

[J4CKO]

eldar said:

The car washing businesses, mostly staffed by by Eastern Europeans it appeared, have closed down in the past three weeks. Is this a local thing, East Midlands, or something more general?

HMRC shown an interest in them ?

Allegedly many are money laundering fronts with car washing being a secondary concern, with some having to have done like 100 cars an hour to provide the declared income, see also American Sweet Shops, some barbers and various takeaways.

[Countdown]

J4CKO said:

HMRC shown an interest in them ?

Allegedly many are money laundering fronts with car washing being a secondary concern, with some having to have done like 100 cars an hour to provide the declared income, see also American Sweet Shops, some barbers and various takeaways.

What’s the source of the money they’re laundering?

[Alex@POD]

Countdown said:

What’s the source of the money they’re laundering?

There's a good documentary on that called Breaking Bad

[anonymous-user]

One near me is still there unfortunately and the waste water goes straight into a storm drain which I thought was a big no no?

£15 just to wash the outside now, so they will never get any business from me.

[Mojooo]

eldar said:

The car washing businesses, mostly staffed by by Eastern Europeans it appeared, have closed down in the past three weeks. Is this a local thing, East Midlands, or something more general?

Used to be huge problems with them using slaves. I noticed prices has gone up a lot over the years to account for that. Nos saying the workers get the money mind.

[Spare tyre]

There’s a few that are using modern slavery chaps, living in sheds, roof spaces etc

Failing that, a good 20% of the forex throbbers from this thread

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Seem to go into washing cars

[Random Account No6]

Hand car washes targeted by GLAA during three-week national blitz

Edited by Random Account No6 on Monday 21st August 14:40

[mcflurry]

eldar said:

The car washing businesses, mostly staffed by by Eastern Europeans it appeared, have closed down in the past three weeks. Is this a local thing, East Midlands, or something more general?

The ones near me seem to be putting up the prices regularly.
Aware of the other issues mentioned, there becomes a price point at which you do it yourself, or leave it dirty..

[TwistingMyMelon]

LOL a Gov report from 2018 - they surveyed 400 and only 40 were operating within legal/planning/envro laws/regs - 40!!!!!

https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cms...

Makes me chuckle when I see the local Gammon who endlessly posts on FB "CLOSE OUR BORDERS" yet complains the car wash is now "8 quid".....how do you think they do it so cheap.....

[Dr G]

A lot of these guys spend summer at home; my valeter is off with his family in Poland for the school holidays. Local hand car was is closed for August as their staff do the same.

[maz8062]

Joey Deacon said:

One near me is still there unfortunately and the waste water goes straight into a storm drain which I thought was a big no no?

£15 just to wash the outside now, so they will never get any business from me.

They got too expensive too quickly. It was £5 for a decent outside clean for years - now it’s £20 for “inside and out”. I’ll pass, thanks.

[rjfp1962]

I'm in North Nottinghamshire and have two of the businesses where I live within 500 yards of each other.

No idea what they charge or if they are any good, as I clean mine myself..

[Nethybridge]

They can't all be fronts for money laundering, how much hot money is there in the economy
that suddenly it requires thousands of hookey barbers, nail salons and car washes to handle it ?

[Countdown]

Alex@POD said:

Countdown said:

What’s the source of the money they’re laundering?

There's a good documentary on that called Breaking Bad

That works as long as they're not generating loads of cash themselves. It they ARE generating loads of cash (which they will be doing if they're charging £20 a pop) it reduces the capacity for them to launder money for others.

[john2443]

The one near us (in supermarket carpark) closed a couple of months ago - south coast.

Doesn't affect me as I'm too tight to pay someone else to do a job I can easily do myself

[TwistingMyMelon]

Nethybridge said:

They can't all be fronts for money laundering, how much hot money is there in the economy
that suddenly it requires thousands of hookey barbers, nail salons and car washes to handle it ?

We have this notion that ML is done through cash business’s such as car washes . TBH legislation , attitudes and regulation have helped reduce it. It’s still exists but is over hyped - you can’t really pump that much money through a nail bar .

The real Propper money laundering in the UK is done through (In London & expensive) properties and lax offshore business and beneficial owner regulation in the UK . Where millions can be laundered from a smart desk day I day out , strong regulation exists but enforcement is another issue .

As for car washes they make money in their own right , largely as they aren’t bound by the rules , regs and compliance that other businesses are bound by , hence more profit for the operators - many of whom would struggle to get a 9-5 job and opening a car wash has low startup costs .

[richhead]

are vape shops the new car wash.
they seem to be everywhere

[CKY]

Joey Deacon said:

One near me is still there unfortunately and the waste water goes straight into a storm drain which I thought was a big no no?

£15 just to wash the outside now, so they will never get any business from me.

The businesses I can't understand are the 'valeters' that drive around offices/trading estates, washing people's cars in the work car park, covering every car in the vicinity with overspray/'snow foam', and then charging the vehicle owner £40 to have an outside wash with the carpets vacuumed

I mean, it's all well and good not being able/being too lazy to wash your car, but what kind of fking person pays £40 to some mouthbreathing chav who dropped out of school before Sixth Form to rinse their car off with a pressure washer?! Absolute madness.

[devnull]

CKY said:

I mean, it's all well and good not being able/being too lazy to wash your car, but what kind of fking person pays £40 to some mouthbreathing chav who dropped out of school before Sixth Form to rinse their car off with a pressure washer?! Absolute madness.

Sir, the correct label you are looking for is “hustlers”. If you aren’t hustling then what are you even doing.