Surrey Chip Shop Owner Fined £40k Over Illegal Worker Hire

Mark Sullivan, owner of Big Fry Fish & Chips in Egham, Surrey, was fined £40,000 by the Home Office after hiring a man who allegedly used a forged identity and had no legal right to work in the UK. The man provided Sullivan with a photocopy of a British passport, national insurance number, proof of student loan payments, and housing benefit receipts, all of which appeared legitimate, but the original passport was never checked—a clerical error Sullivan attributes to the incident. Despite cooperating with authorities and receiving a discount for timely payment, Sullivan described the fine as "devastating" for his small business and expressed shock, noting no obvious red flags about the employee’s identity. The Home Office emphasized that documents like national insurance numbers and housing benefit receipts do not prove the right to work, while experts warned that smaller businesses without dedicated HR departments face increased risks and legal vulnerabilities when conducting employee checks. The case has sparked concern among small business owners, with calls for reducing the severity of such penalties and increased use of digital identity verification tools to prevent similar situations. Sullivan chose to pay the reduced fine rather than contest the decision due to fears of a much higher penalty that could threaten his business’s survival.