Amway sales group facing Government closure call

Times Online:

"The British subsidiary of the world’s biggest direct-selling group may be closed by the Government as a result of an investigation into its business practices, The Times has learnt.

Amway, which has 12,000 agents in Britain and worldwide sales of $6.4 billion (�3.1 billion), will face a High Court petition on Monday to wind up its activities. The group, which arrived in Britain in 1973, has been accused of being more interested in selling motivational books, tapes and seminars to its sales staff than pushing its merchandise.

The petition, brought on behalf of John Hutton, the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, seeks to close the company in the “public interest”. Mr Hutton’s department said that a review of Amway’s activities had been carried out by the Companies Investigation Branch."