The chief executive officer of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA), Paul Broadbent, says he is “disappointed” with the decision by the courts not to punish a group of 15 UK dairy farms, which used workers from an unlicensed labour provider.

The unlicensed labour provider, Marden Management, “was only able to provide experienced labour at such an attractively low rate because it was operating illegally”, Broadbent says, paying workers as much as £600 a month below the legal minimum wage, and in some cases housed in poor accommodation, in one example in a building whose previous occupants had been animals.

A case heard in Swindon last week saw 15 farmers from across England admitting to using between one and five skilled Filipino herdsmen supplied by Marden Management, who were charged ‘administrative charges’ out of their wage of £135 per month, taking their illegally-low wages even lower.

Marden Management boss Christopher Blakeney had pleaded guilty to acting as an unlicensed gangmaster in November and will be sentenced in April, the court heard.

Speaking in mitigation, Adam Vaitilingam QC said: “All 15 defendants are highly responsible and respectable members of the dairy industry, horrified by the situation they find themselves in.” 

In choosing not to punish the farmers involved, judge Simon Cooper said: “None of you wants to be here. It’s cost you a lot of money and you’ve had these matters hanging over you for a long period of time.” 

Warning others about the case, Broadbent adds: “If the price seems too good to be true then it probably is.” Following the GLA’s investigation into the case, the workers are now earning a legal wage.

“The Gangmasters Licensing Act is abundantly clear. It is an offence to employ the services of an unlicensed labour provider. A two-minute call to the GLA, or check of the public register on our website, would have answered that question and prevented these people from breaking the law.”

In a separate statement, Broadbent adds: “We would welcome dialogue with the NFU going forward as to how it may help co-regulate its own sector to avoid similar issues arising in the future.”

• For more on the recently-appointed Broadbent and his approach to GLA regulation, see p6 of the new edition of Recruiter, out this week.