Recruitment director fined for supplying workers without licence
A Somerset businesswoman has been fined a total of £4k after admitting supplying workers to a fish processing plant without the necessary gangmaster licence.
The fines were imposed following previous warnings to both her and the businesses where she was a director.
Alison Andrews, a director of ASAP Recruitment, pleaded guilty to unlicensed labour supply under the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act, as well as an identical offence committed by ASAP Recruitment.
Magistrates in Yeovil yesterday fined Andrews £1k and ordered to pay a £100 victim surcharge and £85 contribution towards costs.
ASAP Recruitment was given an additional fine of £3k, as well as a £120 victim surcharge and a further £85 towards costs for the offence, which occurred when supplying a fish factory in Devon in the early 2015.
The court was told Andrews was fully aware of the requirement to hold a Gangmasters & Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) licence to supply labour for temporary processing roles in the UK fresh produce sector. Andrews and the businesses at which she had been a director were given formal warnings by the GLAA (then operating as the GLA) on three previous occasions.
Andrews had also been a director with ASAP Staff SW Ltd in Devon when that company had its GLA licence revoked in 2009. A subsequent application for a licence, submitted by Andrews, was refused by the authority.
• Want to comment on this story? Email us at [email protected] or tweet us below to tell us your thoughts. We will run comments online in a round-up at the end of the week.
