The Audio Long Read The snail farm don: is this the most brazen tax avoidance scheme of all time?
Dec 15, 2025
Meet Terry Ball, a shoe salesman turned mastermind of a bizarre tax-avoidance scheme involving snails! Discover how he exploits loopholes in UK business rates and creates a covert snail empire while battling legal setbacks. Learn about his connections to the mafia and his adventurous past, including how he sheltered a notorious fugitive. As Ball continues his antics at eighty, he shares his motivations: sheer devilment, boredom, and an undeniably unique legacy.
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Snails In Empty Offices
- Terry Ball set up shell companies and bred snails in empty London offices to claim agricultural exemptions from business rates.
- He used branded sacks and repeated phoenixing to avoid filing accounts and paying taxes for these units.
Loophole Born From Policy Change
- A 2008 rule made landlords pay business rates on empty commercial buildings, creating strong incentives to find tenants or loopholes.
- HMRC guidance treating land-based snails as mollusks created an unintended exemption exploitable for tax avoidance.
Ribchester Farm And Freezer Cache
- At L'Escargotier HQ Ball stores thousands of snails in a freezer and sells them cheaply while facing planning disputes.
- He decorates office units with snail-extract and beauty-product signs to bolster the farm narrative.