A farm-worker business based in Inverbervie, Scotland, has been fined £2,000 after supplying temporary workers to a local potato-packing plant without the required gangmaster's licence.
The company, trading as AM & AJ Jacobsen, pleaded guilty to acting as an unlicensed gangmaster at Stonehaven Sheriff Court last week.
A Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) spokesperson told FPJ: 'Officers from the GLA had discovered that the Aberdeenshire business had been supplying workers without the required licence to a potato plant in Fettercairn between October 2011 and August 2012.'
In a recent interview, GLA chief Paul Broadbent told FPJ he was looking to create a 'level playing field' within the fresh produce industry.
He said: 'I want the GLA to do its part to create a level playing field for the fresh produce industry. I know there are people out there willing to cut corners to secure that next contract. So what the GLA needs to do is create an environment where the legitimate businesses can flourish, and the unjust ones feels the full weight of the GLA.'
