{"id":300044,"date":"2025-07-29T02:29:21","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T02:29:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/300044\/"},"modified":"2025-07-29T02:29:21","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T02:29:21","slug":"the-truth-about-britains-dark-economy-map-reveals-how-nearly-1000-businesses-were-fined-37million-for-hiring-illegal-workers-last-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/300044\/","title":{"rendered":"The truth about Britain’s ‘dark economy’: Map reveals how nearly 1,000 businesses were fined \u00a337MILLION for hiring illegal workers last year"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nearly a thousand businesses the length and breadth of Britain were fined more than \u00a337million for employing illegal workers last year.<\/p>\n

Firms received penalties of up to \u00a3360,000 as part of the clampdown, which exposes the vast size of the UK’s ‘dark economy’.<\/p>\n

The ability to work without papers is considered a major pull factor for migrants overstaying visas or arriving illegally on small boats and lorries.<\/p>\n

MailOnline used Home Office<\/a> data covering the whole of 2024 to name and shame businesses that have been caught out.<\/p>\n

They range from car washes, barbers, salons, hotels and takeaways to haulage firms, care providers and home renovation services.<\/p>\n

The biggest fine of \u00a3360,000 was given to D&T Hand Car Wash in Leatherhead, followed by \u00a3280,000 for a south London<\/a> real estate company called Arya Rae Ltd and \u00a3270,000 for nursing agency Wrexham Care in Staffordshire.<\/p>\n

Also among the top ten were two more car washes, two construction companies, a haulage firm, one care provider and one restaurant – Portofino in New Brighton, Merseyside.<\/p>\n

Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n

Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n

\"Holton <\/p>\n

Holton Heath Hand Car Wash Ltd received a \u00a3180,000 fine for employing illegal workers\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Portofino <\/p>\n

Portofino Restaurant in New Brighton, Merseyside, was also fined \u00a3180,000\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The famous Royal China restaurant in London’s Baker Street has repeatedly been fined for employing illegal workers\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fines issued by Immigration Enforcement teams totalled \u00a337,625,000, although it is unclear how much of this money has been paid.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Businesses found to be employing people illegally face fines of up to \u00a345,000 per worker for the first offence and up to \u00a360,000 per worker for repeat offenders.<\/p>\n

While many are small firms, inspectors have netted some major names, including the famous Royal China restaurant on London’s Baker Street.<\/p>\n

The well-known eatery has paid fines totalling \u00a3470,000 after three visits by immigration officers between 2018 and 2024.<\/p>\n

At least 20 people were arrested during the raids, which found\u00a0one staff member who was receiving an hourly rate of \u00a36 while carrying out 66-hour weeks.<\/p>\n

The council later stripped the venue of its licence to serve alcohol – labelling it ‘the worst licensed premises in Westminster’.<\/p>\n

The latest raid by the Home Office’s Central London ICE (Immigration Compliance and Enforcement) took place on May 10 2024, with nine members of staff detained – almost a third of those on duty at the time.<\/p>\n

The Royal China Group was fined \u00a3360,000 on that occasion, with six Indonesian and two Malaysian men deemed to have overstayed visas, and a Chinese woman working in breach of hers.<\/p>\n

\"Car <\/p>\n

Car wash workers being led away during the raid – one of thousands carried out every year\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A car wash being raided by Immigration Enforcement officers in August\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"During <\/p>\n

During a raid in Oldham, immigration Enforcement officers found makeshift shipping containers that had been turned into a kitchen and living room<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The shipping containers had been set up on a scrapyard to house the illegal workers\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In June, the Home Office revealed its officers had visited more than 9,000 businesses in the previous 12 months for checks on paperwork and working conditions.<\/p>\n

More than 6,400 people were arrested during the raids.<\/p>\n

The Home Office said there were a range of industries exploiting migrant workers with businesses often subjecting migrants to ‘squalid conditions and illegal working hours’ and below-minimum wages.<\/p>\n

In one case, migrants were found living in appalling conditions inside shipping containers at a car salvage yard in Oldham, where they were paid just \u00a32.33 an hour.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The illegal workers, from\u00a0Malaysia<\/a>, Lithuania and Belarus<\/a>, were working between 50 and 60 gruelling hours a week.<\/p>\n

Officers found makeshift sleeping cabins, fitted with small beds and bathrooms, as well as shipping containers that had been turned into a kitchen and living room.<\/p>\n

Immigration officials said the migrants were\u00a0promised accommodation and three meals a day – but once these costs were deducted it is suspected they only received \u00a3500 a month, or \u00a32.33 per hour.<\/p>\n

Last year, MailOnline witnessed more than 30 officers raiding a bedding and mattress factory before making a dozen arrests.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"MailOnline <\/p>\n

MailOnline joined immigration enforcement officers as they stormed a bedding and mattress factory in Tipton last year\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Workers <\/p>\n

Workers suspected of being in the UK illegally are led away by a Home Office enforcement team<\/p>\n

Specialist immigration enforcement teams in six vans surrounded the large warehouse near Tipton in the West Midlands before rushing in just after 10am.<\/p>\n

Several workers started running away after spotting the officers and tried to hide between timber pallets and piles of mattresses before they were handcuffed.<\/p>\n

The name of the business, Giomani Designs, was on a sign outside, and its products – which include leather beds and outdoor rattan furniture – were sold direct to consumers online.<\/p>\n

Officers interviewed all the men at the factory before arresting seven Indian men for suspected illegal working. Those found to be legally employed were allowed to return to their shift.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nearly a thousand businesses the length and breadth of Britain were fined more than \u00a337million for employing illegal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":300045,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5018,3,4],"tags":[748,92,393,2396,4884,12,1144,712,1992,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-300044","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-britain","8":"category-uk","9":"category-united-kingdom","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-dailymail","12":"tag-england","13":"tag-graphics","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-northern-ireland","17":"tag-scotland","18":"tag-the-home-office","19":"tag-uk","20":"tag-united-kingdom","21":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114934171532671067","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=300044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300044\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/300045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=300044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=300044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=300044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}