A number of car wash businesses – including two operating from MFG forecourts – have been fined a total of £2,565,000 for employing staff with no right to work in the UK.
Recently published Home Office figures for civil penalties issued in the third quarter of 2025 to companies employing illegal workers detail that 39 car wash and valeting firms fell foul of immigration rules.
The highest fine levelled was £180,000, issued to Hotspot Car Wash in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, while two car wash businesses operating from MFG sites – one in Croydon, South London, and one in Telford, Shropshire, were issued penalties of £80,000 and £40,000 respectively.
An IMO car wash in Bootle, Merseyside, was also caught employing staff with no right to work in the UK, and was issued a penalty of £45,000.
But while fines for breaching immigration employment laws remain stiff, their enforcement has been historically lackadaisical: a Freedom of Information request made by the Car Wash Association in 2024 revealed just 5% of penalties had been paid within a year of being issued.
