8:19 am, December 10, 2025
A commercial vehicle dealership who has been fined £80,000 from the Home Office over claims it hired illegal workers is mounting a legal challenge.
Swindon-based Big Van World along with another company called Apollo Solutions has been whacked with an £80,000 fine, but the former is contesting the fine as it believes the government incorrectly linked the two firms.
According to the Swindon Advertiser, it’s claimed that the two firms hired illegal workers that do not have the right to work in the UK.
Big Van World owns land near the Cricklade junction of the A419, but it claims it carries out no business there. The site is home to a BP fuel station and other businesses, including valet operator Apollo Solutions, which immigration officers inspected earlier this year.
A spokesperson for Big Van World said: ‘The Home Office carried out an immigration check there and, because we’re on the Land Registry as the owner of the site, they listed us as responsible.
‘The two workers were not working for us, they were working for a third party. They have never worked for us and we do not trade as anything other than Big Van World.
‘I was not down there on the day, though someone did come to meet me, and I got a letter in the post about the fine.’
They added: ‘We have exercised our right to challenge the Home Office and think we will be successful.’
The newspaper reported other businesses in the area had been fined for similar claims, but the £80,000 fine was the largest of the lot.
