London Assay Office’s Operation Stamping It Out marks third anniversary with 500th inspection
Operation Stamping It Out – the London Assay Office’s pioneering hallmarking education and enforcement project delivered by WRi Group in collaboration with Trading Standards – has this month marked its third anniversary with the completion of more than 500 inspections of retail premises across London, the Southeast, Birmingham, and Wales.
Jewellery without hallmarked seized by Trading Standards Officers under Operation Stamping It Out
Launched in the Summer of 2023, Operation Stamping It Out aims to ensure retailers of silver, gold, platinum and palladium jewellery and objects are compliant with the Hallmarking Act (1973) through a programme of education, awareness, and enforcement. Three years on and with more than 500 inspections completed, the team at WRi group, working in collaboration with twenty-eight Trading Standards authorities, have submitted 293 intelligence reports, issued more than 280 warnings to non-compliant traders, and secured three court convictions, taking more than £250,000 worth of illegal jewellery off the streets.
During the first six months of 2026 more than 85 inspections were conducted across Westminster, Camden, Newport, Caerphilly, Ceredigion and Birmingham, with officers uncovering multiple failures to display the statutory Dealers Notice alongside the sale of silver and gold jewellery without hallmarks.
Monitoring of online retailers conducted by WRi Group initiated a series of investigations during the period, including that of a Westminster trader operating two websites and a social media account selling un-hallmarked and under-carat gold who received a formal caution following test purchases and a joint inspection. In Birmingham, nineteen items were seized from a retailer selling un-hallmarked 21 and 22 carat gold, with a prosecution file now being prepared.
In support of underfunded and under resourced Trading Standards authorities, the London Assay Office – which holds legal powers of inspection under the Hallmarking Act (1973) – has begun deploying authorised officers to act of its behalf. Five such inspections carried out in Brent found three retailers selling large quantities of un-hallmarked high-carat gold, all of whom have been directed to submit items to the London Assay Office for hallmarking.
“Hallmarking exists to protect consumers. When someone buys gold or silver, the hallmark is their guarantee that the metal is what the retailer says it is. What this operation continues to show is that non-compliance is widespread — but also that enforcement works. In Birmingham, eleven of twelve retailers previously found selling un-hallmarked gold are now fully compliant. That’s the model: engage, warn, and where necessary, prosecute.
So much attention is rightly focused on online non-compliance, but we cannot afford to disregard the high street. Almost every jeweller we visit trades in both worlds, and consumers deserve the same protection whether they’re buying at a counter or from a screen. Trading Standards teams are stretched, and we’re not prepared to let consumer protection depend on postcode. Our authorised officers extend that reach.”