A Chinese dim sum restaurant, “Royal China,” located on Baker Street in London, was found to have employed at least 20 illegal workers during a series of raids by the UK Home Office. As a result, the restaurant has had its operating license revoked.
Since 2018, immigration officials have uncovered violations at the restaurant three times, resulting in “Royal China” being fined a total of £470,000. The Home Office has also requested the city council to revoke the restaurant’s alcohol license.
On Thursday, August 15th, the Westminster council made a decision to prohibit the restaurant from selling alcohol to customers, playing music, and serving hot food after 11 pm, as it failed to conduct right-to-work checks for its employees.
According to a report given by the Home Office to the city council, Immigration Officer Leonard Johnson, who was in charge of the search operation, referred to the restaurant as the “worst-performing premises” they have seen in their jurisdiction.
“Despite our best efforts to promote compliance through engagement with the restaurant and imposing civil penalties, this has not yielded any meaningful lasting impact,” the report stated.
The Home Office stated that “Royal China” repeatedly violated regulations and did not conduct checks on its employees’ right to work.
One arrested restaurant employee told the Home Office that he worked 66 hours a week at the restaurant, earning only £6 per hour. The minimum wage in the UK is £11.44 per hour.
In October 2018, the Home Office found nine individuals working illegally at the restaurant, including three illegal Chinese immigrants, three Chinese nationals who had overstayed or violated visa conditions, and three individuals from Malaysia who had overstayed or violated visa conditions.
The Home Office report also mentioned that during the search, someone intentionally triggered the fire alarm, and an illegal Chinese woman took the opportunity to escape.
The committee’s environmental health officer stated that they triggered the fire alarm to “create chaos” and allow individuals involved to escape.
“They can’t be trusted to create a safe environment for the public,” the environmental health officer told the licensing committee.
The Home Office imposed an £80,000 fine for the restaurant’s violations after the first search.
In May 2019, a second investigation by the Home Office found two Chinese citizens at the restaurant with “expired visas and no right to work,” resulting in a £30,000 fine.
During a raid on May 10th this year, nine illegal restaurant workers were arrested by the London city center ICE team, and the restaurant was fined £360,000 for the third time.
In these three searches, a total of 20 individuals were arrested at the restaurant, and fines amounting to £470,000 were imposed.
“Royal China” has six other restaurants in London and one in Dubai.
Councilor Maggie Carman expressed her disbelief, questioning how a restaurant could continue to operate after incurring a £470,000 fine.
“It’s simply absurd,” she remarked.
As of the deadline, the Chinese restaurant had not responded to “The Standard” for comments. Additionally, they did not send a representative to the licensing committee to propose any resolution measures regarding the findings of the Home Office investigation.