5 Milton Keynes companies, including 3 big employers, are named and shamed for not paying staff minimum wage

Five firms in Milton Keynes have today (Tuesday) been named and shamed by the government for failing to pay their workers the minimum wage.

They include some big names such as the city’s Merkur Slots UK Ltd, the same brand as MK’s thriving Merkur Casino, which failed to pay £66,811.73 to 2,008 workers.

Another ‘offender’ is HHGL Ltd Milton Keynes, the company that trades as Homebase. They failed to pay failed to pay £2,178.98 to 1,005 workers

And logistics leader DHL Services Ltd of MK failed to pay £28,304.60 to 764 workers.

They were among 524 employers nationally who have been named by the Department for Business and Trade and Kevin Hollinrake MP.

All of them have been ordered to repay the workers and have also been dished out financial penalties of up to200% of their underpayment.

The move comes as the National Living Wage is set to increase by 9.8% from £10.42 to £11.44 an hour in April.

The breaches were discovered during investigations by His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), which concluded between 2015 and 2023.

The other two Milton Keynes firms named today are Infinate Limited, Milton Keynes, also known as Elevation Care MK, who failed to pay £2,876.57 to 16 workers, and Wavendon Bubbles Ltd, a car cleaning company that failed to pay £6,392.44 to 6 workers. This company has since dissolved.

In July last year, the government published a similar list of companies that had failed to pay the minimum wage.

On that list was one of the city’s biggest employers – Argos Ltd. They failed to pay £480,093.58 to 10,399 workers.

Another big local company listed at that time was Kuehne + Nagel Ltd, Milton Keynes, part of one of the world’s biggest logistics companies. They had failed to pay £14,589.92 to 173 workers.

Minister for Enterprise, Markets and Small Business, Kevin Hollinrake, said today: “Employees deserve to get paid properly for the hard work they put in.

“While the majority of businesses already do the right thing and pay their staff what they are owed, today’s announcement sends a message to the minority who aren’t - that there are repercussions to undercutting hard work from their staff.

“Whilst not all minimum wage underpayments are intentional, the government has been clear that anyone entitled to be paid the minimum wage should receive it, and that enforcement action will be taken against employers who do not pay their staff correctly.”

Independent Commissioner at the Low Pay Commission, Patricia Rice, said: “Since its introduction nearly twenty-five years ago, the national minimum wage has played a vital role in protecting the earnings of the lowest-paid workers in the UK. At a time when the cost-of-living is rising, it is more important than ever that these workers receive the pay to which they are entitled.

“NMW underpayment not only cheats workers of their rightful due, it leaves compliant firms undercut by those who do not abide by the law. By naming the firms responsible for significant underpayment, we raise awareness of the nature and the scale of underpayment and encourage all employers to ensure that they fully comply with the law.”

You can read today’s full list of companies here.