A Gangmasters’ Licensing Authority (GLA) investigation has uncovered a case of forced labour and revoked the licence of a Suffolk-based gangmaster with immediate effect.
The investigation revealed the conditions imposed on mainly Polish migrant workers used for flower picking throughout the UK.
Jonathan Beckson, director of Timberland Homes Ltd, which traded as Timberland Homes Recruitment, had his licence revoked with immediate effect by the GLA on May 6.
The firm supplied workers to Winchester Growers, in Cornwall, and a flower picking consortium, Grampian Growers, near Montrose in Scotland.
According to the GLA, the workers were threatened with huge deductions from their wages and the involvement of their families in their home country if they left the employment of the gangmaster and failed to pay money to him.
The workers were housed in sub-standard living accommodation and transported in prohibited, uncertified vehicles.
GLA officers found a threatening letter to workers stating that they were not free to leave before the end of the contract without paying £700, and if they did not have the money this would be recovered from the workers or their families in their home country.
Other findings included that Timberland was subcontracting workers from an unlicensed Polish gangmaster, and that some workers stated that they received £24 for a nine-hour day, or 4p per bunch of flowers picked.
No timesheets were used, so pay could not be accurately recorded, workers did not give their consent for transport and accommodation deductions and they were charged for the protective clothing needed to carry out the job.
Six to eight workers shared rooms in converted farm buildings that were not licensed as houses of multiple occupation, and there were not enough beds for the 43 workers, with only four toilets between them.
Both Winchester Growers and Grampian Growers co-operated fully with the GLA throughout the investigation and none of the working conditions were at either firm.
GLA chairman Paul Whitehouse said: “There is another world out there that the vast majority of us are lucky enough not to see. Forced labour, intimidation and abuse at work is something nobody should experience but we are uncovering it too frequently.
“Some labour providers are doing a great job in a tough industry, but the rogue gangmasters are making workers lives a misery and it is these crooks that we are committed to catching.
“The GLA is here to route out the rogues. We are getting results through strong enforcement activities, which is the only way to stop this exploitation. Where we find abuse of vulnerable workers, we will use all of the powers at our disposal in the continuing fight to protect vulnerable workers across the UK.
“Some industry insiders have described us as draconian. We are. We are also ugly and intend to get uglier with those who abuse the vulnerable at work.”
Mark Boleat, chairman of the Association of Labour Providers (ALP), added:“The ALP fully supports the GLA in taking strong action against those labour providers who flout laws and mistreats workers.”
The GLA will pass the information on this case to the UK Human Trafficking Centre (UKHTC).
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