Rochdale team announced as winners of the 2023 ACG Awards for Excellence

L-R: James Smithies, Chelsea O’Sullivan, Peter Gallagher, Najma Tayab, Darren Hughen, Dennis Chalmers and Phil Lewis from ACG

The council’s trading standards team and two individual council officers have won prestigious awards in recognition of their work tackling the sale and distribution of counterfeit goods.

Dennis Chalmers and Darren Hughen were both awarded the Dave Hankinson Memorial Award for Individual Excellence in Anti-Counterfeiting Enforcement – the first time the award has ever been given to two officers – while the whole team picked up the Departmental Special Commendation Award.

These awards were presented by the Anti-Counterfeiting Group (ACG) at the annual Chartered Trading Standards Institute awards in Birmingham on Wednesday 21 June and were in response to the council tracing and confiscating millions of pounds worth of fake goods from organised crime networks.

The ACG is an international association respected as one of the world’s leading specialists in the fight against the growing global trade in counterfeit goods. The awards recognise the response made by dedicated enforcement services, including trading standards, the police and border force, despite competing priorities and limited resources.

In presenting the award to Dennis and Darren, the Director General of the ACG, Phil Lewis, said that they were: “At the top and forefront of intellectual property enforcement within trading standards and the wider world of enforcement and that their actions have greatly protected consumer health and safety and the economy”.

Phil Lewis had previously written to the council to congratulate the team on their recent haul, which was described as the largest and most successful in the UK over the past three to four years. 

He wrote: “The work carried out by Rochdale’s trading standards team to seize fake goods, with a street value of over £65 million and the discovery of distribution hubs and networks, including badging factories for illicit packaging and labels to feed Cheetham Hill Manchester, and other locations, has helped to stamp out this menacing and insidious threat, before it does irreparable damage. In short, the work has been of enormous value in not only helping to protect legitimate businesses, but also local communities.”

Councillor Liam O’Rourke, cabinet member for climate change and environment, said: “I am delighted that our dedicated trading standards team have been recognised for their great work and achievements. They have worked tirelessly and relentlessly to keep these counterfeit items off our streets and the UK as a whole.

“People may think that the sale of counterfeit goods is a victimless crime but it often involves organised crime groups, money laundering, cheap labour and trafficking, not to mention the risks to consumers of unregulated products.

“This is truly a proud occasion for the team and for the borough of Rochdale.”