The company behind Putney’s once-popular Flour+Water restaurant has been named on HM Revenue and Customs’ latest “hall of shame” for deliberate tax defaulters – owing more than £42,000 in unpaid taxes and penalties.
Northcote Operations Ltd, which operated the well-loved Lower Richmond Road restaurant until it closed and was taken over by Brickwood Cafe, appears on HMRC’s quarterly list of businesses caught deliberately avoiding significant tax bills.
The restaurant operators join a second Putney entry: a property investor operating from what appears to be a garage conversion in West Putney who owes nearly £56,000 in unpaid taxes.
The two cases feature among 262 individuals and businesses across the UK on HMRC’s latest naming exercise, updated on 25 September 2025, targeting those who deliberately defaulted on tax obligations worth more than £25,000.
The Local Cases
Northcote Operations Ltd, which ran Flour+Water at 162-164 Lower Richmond Road, owes £26,184 in tax and £16,365 in penalties, totalling £42,549 with the case stretching back to 2015. The popular eatery is best known for its outside space and was particularly lively during summer months.
The company was started in 2010 by Jason Wells, best known for his Brew coffee houses across South West London, but has been in administration since 2020 at which point it had £1.2m in debts. Mr Wells resigned as a director in July this year, also resigning on the same day at nine other companies he had set up, all restaurants. Back in 2015, Mr Wells was caught on video launching a tirade of abuse against a cyclist in Roehampton which led to other cyclists organising a boycott of his coffee houses.
Flour + Water closed during Covid before being reopened in 2024, and then closing again just a few months later. It is now Brickwood Cafe.
Meanwhile, Tao Long, listed as operating from 28 Colebrook Close – part of a series of garages in West Putney – owes £32,762 in unpaid property income tax plus a hefty £22,934 penalty, bringing his total debt to £55,696. His case covers the tax year from April 2020 to April 2021, during the height of the pandemic.
Combined, the two Putney cases represent nearly £100,000 in unpaid taxes and penalties.
Small fish in a very big pond
But Putney’s tax troubles pale in comparison to the biggest defaulters on HMRC’s list. Topping the charts is 10442565 Ltd (formerly ‘Hive 360 Employer Limited’), a management consultancy that owes a staggering £87.5 million in tax plus £56.9 million in penalties – making it a £144 million case.
The list reads like a rogues’ gallery of tax avoidance, featuring everything from a Blackburn jeweller owing £7.8 million to a software developer hit with a £3.3 million bill. Property developer Hasan Nawaz Sharif, operating from Park Lane, faces a £14.6 million total demand.
HMRC’s quarterly naming exercise reveals clear patterns in who gets caught deliberately avoiding tax. The list is dominated by:
- Restaurants, takeaways and food businesses – making up roughly 20% of entries
- Construction and building trades – the largest single category at about 25%
- Property investors and landlords – a significant minority including several major developers
- Transport, courier and delivery services – reflecting the gig economy’s compliance challenges
- Management consultancies – including some of the largest defaulters
The construction industry’s prominence reflects HMRC’s ongoing crackdown on tax avoidance in the sector, while the high number of hospitality businesses suggests continued compliance issues in an industry already battered by recent economic challenges.
From millions to thousands
The financial scale varies dramatically. While the Hive 360 companies dominate the top spots with their nine-figure demands, the list includes much smaller operators like takeaway owners owing £25,000-£50,000 and individual tradespeople caught short.
One particularly notable case involves a consultant anaesthetist from Ickenham owing over £700,000, while at the other end of the scale, several small business owners face demands in the £25,000-£40,000 range – the minimum threshold for inclusion on the list.
London dominates the list, reflecting both the capital’s economic weight and perhaps higher property values that push tax bills over the £25,000 publication threshold. But cases span the entire UK, from Glasgow convenience stores to Belfast print shops, Cardiff restaurants to Edinburgh property deals.
The Putney entries place the area firmly in the middle of London’s tax compliance challenges, alongside cases from Hackney to Hammersmith, Croydon to Camden.
The Government’s strategy
HMRC’s decision to publicly name tax defaulters isn’t new – the practice has been running for over a decade under powers granted by the Finance Act 2009. But the regular quarterly updates and the scale of recent cases suggest the taxman is taking an increasingly aggressive approach.
Kevin Hubbard, HMRC’s Director of Individuals and Small Business Compliance, said: “The overwhelming majority pay the tax they owe, but for those who refuse, we use a range of tools to take firm action. This includes publishing the names of those penalised for deliberate defaults to influence taxpayer behaviour and encourage defaulters to engage with HMRC.”
The published details remain online for 12 months before being removed, creating a year-long digital scarlet letter for those who fail to properly declare their tax affairs.
Important caveats
HMRC emphasises that inclusion on the list doesn’t necessarily mean the individuals or businesses are still operating at the published addresses, or that current occupants have any connection to the tax defaults. The Northcote Operations case – listed as “formerly of” its Putney address – illustrates this point.
The list also only includes civil penalties, not criminal convictions for tax fraud, and only covers cases where taxpayers failed to make full disclosure when HMRC began investigating.
For Putney residents, seeing the former Flour+Water restaurant and a local garage operation on HMRC’s hall of shame serves as a reminder that tax compliance issues can affect even well-known local businesses.
As HMRC continues its quarterly naming exercises, the message is clear: deliberate tax avoidance will not only cost you financially through penalties, but also reputationally through public exposure. For the two Putney entries, that exposure now extends far beyond the tax office’s files.
The full HMRC list of deliberate tax defaulters can be found on GOV.UK. Details are published for 12 months before being removed.
