28 Results Found
25/11/2025
Brian Madderson, Chairman of the CWA, has welcomed the Government initiative, announced by the Prime Minister to reporters on his flight returning from the G20 Summit, that Rachel Reeves would be detailing plans for the Fair Work Agency (FWA) when established next Spring.
11/09/2025
Commenting on HMRC doubling the number of its staff trained in tax evasion, Gordon Balmer, Executive Director of the CWA, said: "Whilst it is encouraging that HMRC has increased resources to tackle this, it is vital that these resources are focused on the worst offenders."
27/03/2025
Gordon Balmer, Executive Director of the Car Wash Association responded to the Chancellor's Budget: "We welcome the Chancellor's announcement that HMRC will crack down on unpaid fines."
03/03/2025
Brian Madderson, Chair of the CWA, was shocked but not surprised by the latest figures from the Illegal Immigration Unit at the Home Office. "Every major report over the last 10 years has highlighted the serious labour abuse at non-compliant HCW and yet so little has been done by our enforcement agencies to eradicate their illegal practices."
17/10/2024
The Car Wash Association (CWA) strongly supports for the government’s proposal to establish a Fair Work Agency aimed at enforcing workers' rights and addressing illegal employment practices. This new agency, as part of the Employment Rights Bill, will consolidate various enforcement bodies under one umbrella, empowering them to take decisive action in high-risk sectors like non-compliant hand car washes.
22/07/2024
“In a modern society, there is no place for modern slavery. We welcome the Government's initiative to target businesses employing illegal workers in car washes. However, it is disappointing that it has taken so long to address this well-documented issue.” said Gordon Balmer, Executive Director of the Car Wash Association (CWA).
13/06/2024
"Non-compliant hand car washes, that vastly outnumber legally operated sites, are blatantly disregarding employment laws, with minimal enforcement from the relevant authorities. When employment laws are ignored, people suffer. These hand car washes, many of which only accept payment in cash, are often a hotbed of modern slavery and other illegal activities, such as money laundering and tax evasion. The continued lack of action on this issue empowers these criminals and endangers lives." said Gordon Balmer, Executive Director of the Car Wash Association (CWA) in response to recent Home Office figures showing that hand car washes racked up almost £2.5m in civil penalties last year.
22/04/2024
"As the Thames Water saga drags on, the company is ignoring its responsibility to keep our environment clean,” said Gordon Balmer Executive Director of the Car Wash Association, commenting on the latest Thames Water’s latest issues.
26/02/2024
Data from the Illegal Immigration Unit at the Home Office showed that 78 hand car washes across the UK had been fined a total of nearly £1.5 million for ‘right to work’ offences in the first nine months of 2023. Brian Madderson, Chairman of the Car Wash Association (CWA), said: “It is disappointing that even in the face of blatant violations of the law, the Government is still unwilling to crack down on illegal hand car wash operators."
02/08/2023
Commenting on the newly released data from The Clewer Initiative's Safe Car Wash App, Gordon Balmer, Executive Director of the Car Wash Association (CWA) said: “I am deeply concerned to see the report highlighting the widespread exploitation taking place in hand car wash businesses, especially as a third of all reports submitted through the app raised significant concerns regarding modern slavery and exploitation. The shocking 127% increase in the number of high-scoring reports referred to the Modern Slavery Helpline (MSH) compared to the previous 6 months is alarming.
