Supermarket, barbershop and car wash in Liverpool city centre fined for employing illegal workers

As part of a Home Office crackdown on the number of people working without permission in the UK, almost 500 penalties have been handed out to businesses flouting the rules, writes the LDR service.

In the latest data published by the government, two city centre businesses – a car wash and a supermarket – have been found to have employed three individuals without the right to work in this country. A barbershop in Waterloo was also sanctioned by Whitehall officials.

As a result, £165,000 worth of penalties have been handed out across the three businesses following visits carried out between April and September last year. Across the UK, there were 489 penalties issued, 771 illegal workers found, and £29.2m in fines handed out.

The government publishes an updated list of businesses it has sanctioned every three months in a bid to encourage others to not employ illegal workers. However, three operators in the city region have found themselves on the wrong side of the rules.

In April last year, immigration enforcement officers carried out a visit to Blade Barbers of St John’s Road, Waterloo as part of ongoing efforts to tackle illegal working. With the business found to be employing one person without the right to work legally in the UK, a civil penalty of £40,000 was issued.

A further visit was carried out at Capital Auto Wash, which provides car wash services at Liverpool ONE’s Q-Park as well as sites in Birmingham, Chelmsford and Belfast. The business was found to be employing two individuals without permission to be here.

As a result, it was fined £80,000 by the Home Office. Less than a month later, officers swooped on Aram Supermarket at Hughes House, London Road. A further worker was found to be employed by the business without the relevant permissions to do so.

This landed the shop with a civil penalty of £45,000. Earlier this month, it was confirmed a Wirral restaurant was hit with a £180,000 fine after it was found to be employing illegal workers.

Portofino Italiana, an Italian restaurant on Marine Promenade in New Brighton, was handed one of the largest penalties given out by immigration officials.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “Organised immigration crime is a multi-million pound industry which stretches from the trafficking routes thousands of miles away through which people are brought to our country, to the high streets across the United Kingdom where many of those people end up working illegally. As part of our Plan for Change, this government is cracking down on that criminal industry at every level where illegal working is taking place, and increasing our enforcement action both against illegal workers and the people who employ them.”

The LDRS contacted Capital Auto Wash, Blade Barbers and Aram Supermarket for comment.