Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy sign PA-34417749Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy sign PA-34417749

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Charles Hurst, Stoneacre and Pendragon named in latest list of companies that failed to pay minimum wage to some employees

  • Thousands were owed in total by some businesses
  • Labour markets minister says firms should know better – even if it was unintentional
  • Paying legal minimum wage is non-negotiable, employers are told
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Time 7:00 am, January 5, 2022

Charles Hurst, Stoneacre Motor Group and Pendragon are among the latest companies named and shamed for underpaying some of their staff.

A total of 208 employers failed to pay some 12,000 workers a total of £1.2m, according to investigations by HM Revenue and Customs that were concluded between 2014 and 2019.

As such, the firms contravened the National Minimum Wage law and have since had to pay the staff what was rightfully theirs. They also face financial penalties of up to 200 per cent of what was owed.


According to the latest findings, recently published by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and the Low Pay Commission, Charles Hurst failed to pay £536.83 on average* to 42 workers between March 1, 2013 and January 31, 2017, making an arrears total of £22,546.84.

Decidebloom Ltd, which trades as Stoneacre Motor Group, didn’t pay £7,882.37 to 73 workers between January 1, 2013 and June 1, 2018, averaging £107.98 each* that they were owed.

Meanwhile, one Pendragon employee was underpaid by £779.11 between September 1, 2012 and June 30, 2016.


Others in the automotive industry that were named and shamed were:

  • Abid Hussain, trading as B & H Car Services, in Newham, east London, failed to pay £10,304.45 to one worker between April 11, 2014 and August 16, 2018.
  • Daniel Jupe, trading as Ryde Tyres, on the Isle of Wight, failed to pay £8,569.92 to one worker between January 1, 2017 and March 10, 2018.
  • Clive Jones Motors Ltd (under new ownership), of Cardiff, failed to pay £3,816.75 to one worker between February 20, 2017 and June 3, 2018.
  • David Peter Reynolds, trading as Spixworth MOT Bay, Broadland, failed to pay £2,098.34 to four workers, averaging £524.59 each* , between October 7, 2013 and November 11, 2018.
  • Leicester Motors Limited, Leicester, failed to pay £1,981.21 to two workers, averaging £990.61 each*, between April 1, 2017 and July 31, 2018.
  • Taylors Service Garages (Boston), failed to pay £1,110.74 to three workers, averaging £370.25 each*, between November 1, 2017 and December 31, 2017.
  • CP Garage Services (Dundee), failed to pay £592.62 to one worker between February 1, 2018 and August 31, 2018.
  • Eamonn Boyle, trading as Ayrshire Towbar Centre, East Ayrshire, failed to pay £539.47 to one worker between December 30, 2017 and July 6, 2018.

Paul Scully, the minister for labour markets, said: ‘We want workers to know that we’re on their side and they must be treated fairly by their employers, which is why paying the legal minimum wage should be non-negotiable for businesses.’

He added that the firms ‘whatever their size, should know better than to short-change hard-working employees, regardless of whether it was intentional or not’.

The National Minimum Wage (NMW) depends on each individual worker’s age and if they’re an apprentice, with almost all workers entitled to it.

The National Living Wage (NLW), meanwhile, is higher than the NMW and is for workers 23 and older.

The current NLW rate is £8.91 per hour and will rise to £9.50 per hour in April.

The NMW hourly rate currently ranges from £4.30 to £8.36, depending on people’s age and if they’re an apprentice. It will increase in range from £4.81 to £9.18 per hour in April.

*Average payments were rounded up or down by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and the Low Pay Commission

Car dealers and garages named and shamed by HMRC for not paying minimum wage


John Bowman's avatar

John has been with Car Dealer since 2013 after spending 25 years in the newspaper industry as a reporter then a sub-editor/assistant chief sub-editor on regional and national titles. John is chief sub-editor in the editorial department, working on Car Dealer, as well as handling social media.



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