Complaints raised over city centre "muggers"
COMPLAINTS have been made about agents for a homelessness charity and an energy group “aggressively selling” to pedestrians in Inverness city centre.
The complaints were received by management of Inverness Business Improvement District (Bid) who passed them on to Highland Council last Wednesday.
About six people from Shelter and Economy Energy were operating in the High Street on the days in question.
Bid manager Mike Smith said they had received three complaints, one from a member of the public and two from businesses, over people who have been described as “charity muggers.”
He said: “They appear to be a group from outside the area handing out leaflets and trying to get people to sign up to their schemes.
“I reported it to the council and they went down on the Wednesday and spoke to them. However they were back in operation the following day.
“Regarding Economy Energy, I understand they have no right to use the public road as it is a commercial operation they are running, and there is also the question over whether they require licences to trade on the street.”
He added: “From Bid’s point of view, we think people should be able to go about their business using the city centre without being pestered in an aggressive way.”
A representative of Economy Energy said they were an independent energy supplier, set up to challenge the market and offer more affordable prices than the ‘Big Six’. He told the HN he would be checking what permissions their agents possessed or required.
Shelter agents approach pedestrians and try and get them to sign up to give regular payments to the charity that supports homeless people. But they do not require a licence.
A spokeswoman for Highland Council said: “Persons collecting direct debit details from the public in respect of charitable donations, for example Shelter, do not require any licence from the council.
“The persons from Economy Energy may require a street traders licence if they are canvassing for orders for themselves or on behalf of another person
Shelter did not respond to a request for comment.
A spokesman for Economy Energy said: “Since we were formed five years ago, we have saved customers well over £12 million on their gas and electricity bills. Economy Energy has grown its customer base from 40,000 in January 2015 to over 250,000 in February 2017 by actively engaging people who have been stuck on legacy tariffs with the Big Six.
“A third-party sales team was based in Inverness town-centre to educate people in the area on switching and how they can access the best energy deal on the market.”
The spokesman added that it was assured by the third-party sales team that all permissions were in place as part of its rigorous audit process.
