Nearly a thousand businesses the length and breadth of Britain were fined more than £37million for employing illegal workers last year.
Firms received penalties of up to £360,000 as part of the clampdown, which exposes the vast size of the UK’s ‘dark economy’.
The ability to work without papers is considered a major pull factor for migrants overstaying visas or arriving illegally on small boats and lorries.
MailOnline used Home Office data covering the whole of 2024 to name and shame businesses that have been caught out.
They range from car washes, barbers, salons, hotels and takeaways to haulage firms, care providers and home renovation services.
The biggest fine of £360,000 was given to D&T Hand Car Wash in Leatherhead, followed by £280,000 for a south London real estate company called Arya Rae Ltd and £270,000 for nursing agency Wrexham Care in Staffordshire.
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.
Holton Heath Hand Car Wash Ltd received a £180,000 fine for employing illegal workers
Portofino Restaurant in New Brighton, Merseyside, was also fined £180,000
The famous Royal China restaurant in London’s Baker Street has repeatedly been fined for employing illegal workers
Fines issued by Immigration Enforcement teams totalled £37,625,000, although it is unclear how much of this money has been paid.
Businesses found to be employing people illegally face fines of up to £45,000 per worker for the first offence and up to £60,000 per worker for repeat offenders.
While many are small firms, inspectors have netted some major names, including the famous Royal China restaurant on London’s Baker Street.
The well-known eatery has paid fines totalling £470,000 after three visits by immigration officers between 2018 and 2024.
At least 20 people were arrested during the raids, which found one staff member who was receiving an hourly rate of £6 while carrying out 66-hour weeks.
The council later stripped the venue of its licence to serve alcohol – labelling it ‘the worst licensed premises in Westminster’.
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.
The Royal China Group was fined £360,000 on that occasion, with six Indonesian and two Malaysian men deemed to have overstayed visas, and a Chinese woman working in breach of hers.
Car wash workers being led away during the raid – one of thousands carried out every year
A car wash being raided by Immigration Enforcement officers in August
During a raid in Oldham, immigration Enforcement officers found makeshift shipping containers that had been turned into a kitchen and living room
The shipping containers had been set up on a scrapyard to house the illegal workers
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.
More than 6,400 people were arrested during the raids.
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.
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 £2.33 an hour.
The illegal workers, from Malaysia, Lithuania and Belarus, were working between 50 and 60 gruelling hours a week.
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.
Immigration officials said the migrants were promised accommodation and three meals a day – but once these costs were deducted it is suspected they only received £500 a month, or £2.33 per hour.
Last year, MailOnline witnessed more than 30 officers raiding a bedding and mattress factory before making a dozen arrests.
MailOnline joined immigration enforcement officers as they stormed a bedding and mattress factory in Tipton last year
Workers suspected of being in the UK illegally are led away by a Home Office enforcement team
Specialist immigration enforcement teams in six vans surrounded the large warehouse near Tipton in the West Midlands before rushing in just after 10am.
Several workers started running away after spotting the officers and tried to hide between timber pallets and piles of mattresses before they were handcuffed.
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.
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.
