Cambridgeshire businesses named and shamed by the government for not paying workers minimum wage
By Paul Gallagher
By Paul Gallagher
29 JUN 2023
Firms have been named and shamed by the government (Getty)
Cambridgeshire workers were among more than 63,500 staff who were underpaid by a total of nearly £5 million because their employers failed to pay them the minimum wage. Two Cambridgeshire firms have been “named and shamed” by the government for breaking the minimum wage law.
They join retail giants WH Smith, Marks & Spencer and Argos on the government list. Many of the businesses named are small companies including hotels, hairdressers, restaurants and pre-school nurseries.
Cambridgeshire workers were among more than 63,500 staff who were underpaid by a total of nearly £5 million because their employers failed to pay them the minimum wage. Two Cambridgeshire firms have been “named and shamed” by the government for breaking the minimum wage law.
They join retail giants WH Smith, Marks & Spencer and Argos on the government list. Many of the businesses named are small companies including hotels, hairdressers, restaurants and pre-school nurseries.
Kevin Hollinrake, minister for enterprise, markets and small business, said: “Paying the legal minimum wage is non-negotiable and all businesses, whatever their size, should know better than to short-change hard-working staff.
“Most businesses do the right thing and look after their employees, but we’re sending a clear message to the minority who ignore the law: pay your staff properly or you’ll face the consequences.”
Tangerine Properties in South Cambridgeshire and the Peterborough-based United Church Schools Trust are among over 200 firms that have been outed.
Tangerine Properties, a hospitality firm that dissolved in 2020, underpaid five staff by a total of £743, or an average of £148 per worker over seven months in 2018. The United Church Schools Trust underpaid two workers a total of £554, or an average of £277 each, also in 2018.
The employers have been made to pay back what they owed, and in addition, were fined around £7 million.
The area with the most firms listed is Westminster, with eight companies, followed by Armagh and Leeds, both with five firms. Four companies are listed in Manchester, Glasgow and Wokingham. There are 26 hotels on the list, 15 hairdressing or beauty salons, 13 restaurants, and ten providers of pre-primary school education.
The list includes Blackpool Pleasure Beach Limited, which underpaid 12 staff, and Warrington Wolves rugby league club, which had to pay 34 staff a total of over £7,500. High street retailer WH Smith was the worst offender, according to HMRC, with the new figures claiming it failed to pay around £1 million to 17,607 workers.
“Most businesses do the right thing and look after their employees, but we’re sending a clear message to the minority who ignore the law: pay your staff properly or you’ll face the consequences.”
Tangerine Properties in South Cambridgeshire and the Peterborough-based United Church Schools Trust are among over 200 firms that have been outed.
Tangerine Properties, a hospitality firm that dissolved in 2020, underpaid five staff by a total of £743, or an average of £148 per worker over seven months in 2018. The United Church Schools Trust underpaid two workers a total of £554, or an average of £277 each, also in 2018.
The employers have been made to pay back what they owed, and in addition, were fined around £7 million.
The area with the most firms listed is Westminster, with eight companies, followed by Armagh and Leeds, both with five firms. Four companies are listed in Manchester, Glasgow and Wokingham. There are 26 hotels on the list, 15 hairdressing or beauty salons, 13 restaurants, and ten providers of pre-primary school education.
The list includes Blackpool Pleasure Beach Limited, which underpaid 12 staff, and Warrington Wolves rugby league club, which had to pay 34 staff a total of over £7,500. High street retailer WH Smith was the worst offender, according to HMRC, with the new figures claiming it failed to pay around £1 million to 17,607 workers.
The retailer blamed this on an error related to its company uniform policy. A spokesman for WH Smith said: “Following a review with HMRC in 2019, and in common with a number of retailers, it was brought to our attention that we had misinterpreted how the statutory wage regulations were applied to our uniform policy for staff working in our stores.
“This was a genuine error and it was rectified immediately with all colleagues reimbursed in 2019.”
Marks & Spencer failed to pay £578,390 to 5,363 workers, the report said. In response, an M&S spokesman said: “Like many other organisations, M&S is only named in the list because of an unintentional technical issue from over four years ago.”
“This was a genuine error and it was rectified immediately with all colleagues reimbursed in 2019.”
Marks & Spencer failed to pay £578,390 to 5,363 workers, the report said. In response, an M&S spokesman said: “Like many other organisations, M&S is only named in the list because of an unintentional technical issue from over four years ago.”
Cromer's Cliftonville Hotel failed to pay staff minimum wage
25th June
The former owners of a clifftop Cromer hotel failed to pay the minimum wage to its lowest paid workers.
North Norfolk Hospitality Limited, which previously owned The Cliftonville Hotel in Cromer before current owners City Pub Group took over the business in 2021, did not pay three members of staff at the hotel the legal minimum wage.
North Norfolk Hospitality Ltd were named and shamed in a list of more than 200 companies that failed to pay staff the minimum wage, which was published by the government earlier this week.
According to Companies House, North Norfolk Hospitality Ltd was wound up last year.
The company failed to pay three people a combined £908.56 – but it has since paid back the staff.
Built in 1897, the Edwardian Cliftonville Hotel is a Grade II listed building with 30 sea-view bedrooms.
A total of 202 UK businesses were ordered to repay workers the money they were owed and face penalties of almost £7 million after breaches left 63,000 workers out of pocket.
It comes after a 9.7pc rise in the National Living Wage and minimum Wage paid to almost three million workers.
City Pub Group, which currently owns The Cliftonville Hotel, in Runton Road, said it is aware of the failings of the hotel’s previous owners, which took place in a three-year period between 2015 and 2018.
A City Pub Group spokesperson said: “The matter brought to our attention today precedes our ownership by almost three years. As such we have no knowledge of the details involved.”
Of the 202 businesses included in the list, 39pc of employers deducted pay from workers’ wages.
Another 39pc of employers failed to pay workers correctly for their working time, and 21pc paid the incorrect apprenticeship rate.
25th June
The former owners of a clifftop Cromer hotel failed to pay the minimum wage to its lowest paid workers.
North Norfolk Hospitality Limited, which previously owned The Cliftonville Hotel in Cromer before current owners City Pub Group took over the business in 2021, did not pay three members of staff at the hotel the legal minimum wage.
North Norfolk Hospitality Ltd were named and shamed in a list of more than 200 companies that failed to pay staff the minimum wage, which was published by the government earlier this week.
According to Companies House, North Norfolk Hospitality Ltd was wound up last year.
The company failed to pay three people a combined £908.56 – but it has since paid back the staff.
Built in 1897, the Edwardian Cliftonville Hotel is a Grade II listed building with 30 sea-view bedrooms.
A total of 202 UK businesses were ordered to repay workers the money they were owed and face penalties of almost £7 million after breaches left 63,000 workers out of pocket.
It comes after a 9.7pc rise in the National Living Wage and minimum Wage paid to almost three million workers.
City Pub Group, which currently owns The Cliftonville Hotel, in Runton Road, said it is aware of the failings of the hotel’s previous owners, which took place in a three-year period between 2015 and 2018.
A City Pub Group spokesperson said: “The matter brought to our attention today precedes our ownership by almost three years. As such we have no knowledge of the details involved.”
Of the 202 businesses included in the list, 39pc of employers deducted pay from workers’ wages.
Another 39pc of employers failed to pay workers correctly for their working time, and 21pc paid the incorrect apprenticeship rate.
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