The unit in Hamilton’s Regent Shopping Centre appears much like many of the surrounding shops, which is to say, abandoned. We’ve been directed here by Google Maps, which insists Unit 6, 10 Regent Way is located next to a Superdrug inside the rather browbeaten arcade.
Both stores flanking the Superdrug are shuttered, their interiors in a state of disarray. To the left is what appears to be the former home of The Works, now located a few doors down. On the right is an American Candy outlet, shelves partly stripped and plastic bags overspilling with sweets littering the floor. Could either of these be what we’re looking for?
The Bell has made its way to Regent Way in pursuit of answers. It’s been five days since a fire ripped through a historic Victorian building on the corner of Union and Gordon Street, destroying the livelihoods of dozens of independent business owners, and shutting down Scotland’s busiest station for at least a week. Fire hoses were still spraying water onto the smoking rubble of Forsyth House at Wednesday lunchtime, tails snaking through the streets. As evening hit, Glasgow city council announced the latest damage recorded: part of the southern gable of the Caledonian Chambers had collapsed overnight.
As the immediate shock subsides and Glasgow acclimatises to the blow its city centre has been dealt, investigations and recovery plans are running in parallel, as are two central stories.
One of these is about the big guys, the owners and managers of the building: multiple private landlords who’ve seen their properties go up in smoke, and the council. They must collectively decide what to do with the gaping hole on Union Street. If all are in agreement, this process could be relatively painless. If visions don’t align — well.
The other story, the one we’re focusing on today, is about a specific genre of wee guy: the tenants of the building, and the operators of shabby tat and fast food shops, nestled among the recognisable high street brands on Union Street. These businesses now pepper what was once one of Glasgow’s prime shopping thoroughfares. The eyes of passers-by usually slide past them, unless they require a lighter or a greasy snack.
But in the wake of the fire on 8 March, an uncomfortably bright spotlight is upon these traders. The blaze is believed to have begun at 105 Union Street, a general tat shop, selling bongs, Labubus and vapes. It was a store so commonplace, it lacked a public-facing name. Multiple videos show smoke emerging from the doorway of the unit, members of the public attempting to subdue the rapidly spreading flames. Anger around ‘vape shops’ has swelled in the interceding days; calls for new laws over the sale of vapes are loud.
But before Scotland adds to its legislative burden, perhaps there should be an assessment of just how existing business regulations are enforced. The Bell’s initial attempt to answer a simple inquiry — who owns the tat shop located at 105 Union Street? — has revealed a Byzantine tangle of small business ownership that bears little relation to official registrations lodged with Companies House and Glasgow city council.
Hi, we're Calum and Robbie, and we run The Bell. This story about the warren of small businesses on Union Street took a lot of legwork — literally. Our step count hit 16,000.
It also took dogged, repeated calls and digging and running around Glasgow, looking for answers. Normally, we paywall this sort of investigative reporting because it requires a large amount of time and money. But we think this story is in the public interest. So we've made it free to read.
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Attempting to track down one lone person has taken The Bell from Pollokshaws to South Lanarkshire, and given us insight into a retail sector that is regulated in the loosest sense of the word. The reality on the ground is that the ownership and operation of shops like 105 Union Street is informally and frequently transferred between contacts. This instance involves a network of shopkeepers who are understandably nervous about speaking to the media given the stakes — and potential compliance fines that some might be racking up.
The reticence makes it difficult for officials to chase up tens of thousands of pounds owed to the council in business rates, and for journalists to pinpoint who exactly was in charge of a shop the day a devastating fire broke out. But we think we’ve done it regardless.
Who is ‘Ajaz’ Sarwar?
It’s the business rates that have sent us to Hamilton. On Monday, the council informed the media that Junaid Retail Limited, the business registered to 105 Union Street since August 2024, owes the local authority at least a year’s worth of tax. One of the few details listed for Junaid Retail on Companies House, is a director’s name — ‘Ahsan Ali’, born 1997, who took over the business in July 2025 — and a correspondence address: Unit 6/10 Regent Way, Hamilton. A council source tells us that this location is where they “believe” Junaid Retail has another shop. So we hare down there.
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