Rochdale Borough Council’s Trading Standards team has won a national award at the 2025 Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) awards’ ceremony.
The team won the Intellectual Property Award for their work in removing counterfeit goods from the borough at a ceremony held in the Houses of Parliament.
Judges commended the team for their outstanding efforts in protecting consumers and legitimate businesses from intellectual property crime. The team was also recognised as being truly sector-leading and a powerful example of best practice in enforcement.
It has been another successful 12 months for the Trading Standards team in seizing harmful and counterfeit goods. At least £16 million worth of goods were seized in the borough alongside 94,000 fake products over the last year.
The council’s trading standards team were also recipients of the Outstanding Trading Standards Project at the 2024 Hero Awards. Last year’s award was in recognition of their work tackling 'ghost' car registration plates and collaborating with children's services to disrupt child exploitation linked to vaping.
The team has also positioned themselves as leaders in their sector by developing new digital systems for their evidence and providing training to other local authorities.
Councillor Tricia Ayrton, the council’s deputy leader and cabinet member for climate change and environment, said:
“We’re incredibly proud of the council’s Trading Standards team winning at the CTSI Hero Awards after their amazing performance at last year’s ceremony.
“Their approach to digitising evidence has become best practice for the sector, and their efforts to get officers out on the streets continues to get results. This is further proof that the council is leading the way when it comes to tackling consumer crimes in our communities.”
The CTSI Hero Awards is an annual awards ceremony recognising the individuals and groups who make an outstanding contribution towards consumer protection. The CTSI is the UK’s only professional membership body for people working in Trading Standards.