The industries caught employing the most illegal workers

Delivery riders, takeaways and nail salons are among the worst offending industries for hiring illegal migrant workers, Home Office data has revealed.

Half of the record 9,000 arrests for illegal working in the last year were in the restaurant, distribution and beauty industries, the official figures showed.

The most arrests (2,500) were in the restaurant industry, which includes takeaways and cafes.

There were also 1,050 arrests in the beauty trade, which includes nail salons and hairdressers.

Rogue firms that hired illegal workers now face £130m worth of fines after more than 2,400 penalties were dished out in the same period.

The penalties form a key part of Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s plan to limit the so-called “pull” factors encouraging migrants to enter the UK via a small boat crossing across the Channel.

The money from the fines will be used by the Home Office to boost funding for enforcing immigration laws and patrolling the border.

Home Office Minister Mike Tapp said: “I have seen firsthand how illegal working undercuts honest businesses, damages our high streets and undermines our immigration rules.

“That is why we are tracking down and deporting illegal migrants working in the black economy, removing the incentives that draw them to Britain in the first place.

“Immigration raids and arrests are at the highest level in British history and dodgy businesses attempting to evade checks have nowhere to hide.”

The Government said the move supports Sir Keir Starmer’s Pride in Place programme, which aims to revive high streets and local neighbourhoods with £5bn in funding and is expected to play an increasingly key role in the Prime Minister’s attempts to improve Labour’s dire opinion poll ratings.

As part of the scheme, communities will gain new powers to seize boarded-up shops, block nuisance businesses and buy beloved local assets before they close – restoring pride and unity to every corner of the country.

Businesses hiring illegal workers face fines of up to £60,000 per illegal worker, business closures, alcohol licence revocations and, in serious cases, up to five years in prison.

The Home Office highlighted multiple raids carried out by immigration enforcement officers in the last year.

In November 2025, there were seven days of raids on those working illegally in the delivery sector, arresting 171 riders and detaining 60 ahead of deportation.

In another case on 7 August 2025, immigration officers visited the Pretty Nails salon in Yate, Bristol, where two Vietnamese women were arrested for illegally working alongside the business owner.

The salon had already been fined £80,000 previously and so was issued with an order which meant immigration officers could keep close tabs on the firm to prevent further offences.

After their arrests, the women were placed on immigration bail and are required to regularly report to the Home Office.

On 2 December 2025, officers raided Big Pot in Cookstown, Northern Ireland, where a Portuguese man was arrested for illegal working and deported, while the company is facing a potential £60,000 fine.

The Government has introduced new laws to expand right to work checks to the gig economy, including delivery drivers, while the Home Office is working with firms like Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats to strengthen ID checks for riders and drivers.