Tat kings fined over 'Scots cashmere' made in China

Gold Brothers own a number of tourist shops throughout the Old Town.

The company, which owns stores throughout the Capital, was fined 4500 at Edinburgh Sheriff Court yesterday after pleading guilty to a criminal charge of "misleading" customers at a Royal Mile store.

Councillor Robert Aldridge, the city's environment leader, praised the operation by trading standards officers, who caught Abercrombie Cashmere peddling the mis-labelled goods.

Cllr Aldridge said the council would work to uphold Edinburgh's reputation amongst tourists, and pledged to take "robust enforcement action" against retailers.

The court earlier heard that the Gold Brothers had bought cashmere jumpers and cardigans shipped over from China for 46 each.

Trading Standards officers carried out test purchases at Abercrombie Cashmere and said they bought products for 90 each from shelves marked "Made in Scotland".

Fining the firm yesterday, Sheriff Fiona Reith QC accepted that the mis-labelled shelf display was due to "human error" by shop staff. She imposed a 4500 fine, and allowed 28 days for payment.

The company had pleaded guilty to the charge that between August 27 and September 15, 2009, while trading as Abercrombie Cashmere, it supplied and offered for sale cashmere garments which had "a misleading statement of geographical origin".

Defence solicitor, Robert Millar, said Gold Brothers had been in business for almost 30 years. The company catered mainly for the tourist trade, and had 15 shops in Scotland with a turnover of several million pounds per year.

He said that Abercrombie Cashmere, which was the only Gold Brothers shop found to have had inaccurate labelling, had an annual turnover of 450,000. He pointed out that the items themselves had not been labelled as being made in Scotland, only the shelf.

Mr Millar told the court that the retail price for a Chinese-manufactured lady's cardigan was 150, while a Scottish-manufactured lady's sweater would be 150 to 185.

He added: "There was no attempt to deliberately mislead the public. The pricing was what they properly ought to have been priced at."

Fiscal depute, Robert Freeland, said the Crown accepted it had been a genuine error, but the labelling should have been changed between the period when the Trading Standards officers first visited the shop and a second check which found the goods were still being mis-sold.

Cllr Aldridge said: "As a council, we are satisfied with today's outcome.

"It is important for Edinburgh's reputation and Scotland's tourist industry that goods are accurately described and are genuine.

"We are committed to protecting the reputation of Scottish manufacturers and ensuring that goods which have a misleading product description are identified and removed from sale."

A spokeswoman for the Gold Brothers told the Evening News that the firm did not want to comment on the matter.

[email protected]