The three gangmasters accused of malpractice by the Gangmaster Licensing Authority earlier this week have formally had their licences revoked.

A to Z Employment Services, based in Sparkhill, Birmingham, has had its license revoked with immediate effect, meaning that it must cease trading immediately or face prosecution for trading as a gangmaster without a licence. Two other firms have had their licences revoked without immediate effect, allowing them to continue trading while an appeals process is carried out.

The decision comes after last week’s unannounced raid at Evesham veg packer Simms and Wood by the GLA, which was accompanied by a Sunday Times reporter, as well as the West Mercia police and the Border and Immigration Agency. Simms and Wood has denied any wrongdoing this week, and is not being held responsible for the misdemeanours by the GLA.

The main reasons given by the GLA for evoking A to Z’s licence were:

• an illegal and seriously un-roadworthy minibus being used to transport workers

• the boss of the agency instructed a worker to put clingfilm on a serious cut and to continue working on a vegetable production line at Simms and Wood

Other serious issues uncovered during the operation included:

• the manipulation of documents by a labour provider. In the worst case, one passport copied four times with a different name and photo added in - the serial name and number of the passport remained the same

• no accurate record of the number of workers or identity of workers employed to work at the warehouse

“GLA chairman Paul Whitehouse said: “We cannot allow an agency that puts its workers at risk to continue trading. The GLA was set up to protect workers and we are also providing a service to the law-abiding businesses who spend time and money to ensure the welfare of their workers.

“When the boss of a business tells a worker to put a bit of clingfilm on a serious cut and get back to work processing food, you have to question if they should be allowed to run a business.”

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