Huge rise in raids on salons and takeaways revealed in illegal working crackdown

More than 11,000 immigration raids on takeaways, beauty salons, and car washes have been carried out over the past year, new figures reveal, as the government accelerates its crackdown on illegal working.

The number of operations between October 2024 and September 2025 is a 51% increase on the year before, amid concerns about how many people are working illegally in the gig economy. Politics Hub: Follow latest updates A six-week consultation is being launched on plans to expand right-to-work checks to include such employers, and for bosses who hire illegal workers to face up to five years in jail.

Under existing laws, right-to-work checks to verify someone is eligible to work in the UK are needed only for companies with traditional employer to employee contracts. Ministers want to close this loophole, so the same checks apply to casual, temporary or subcontracted workers, and employers who fail to carry out checks could be jailed or hit with fines of £6,000 per illegal worker.

Delivery firms in the spotlight Under Operation Sterling, the government has invested £5m into immigration enforcement in an acknowledgment that the relaxed UK labour market can act as a pull factor for those making the dangerous journey. The issue came to a head earlier this year when shadow home secretary Chris Philp made an unannounced visit to an asylum hotel where he said he found "clear evidence of illegal working for Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats".

There have been reports that asylum seekers can rent legitimate delivery driver accounts within hours of arriving in the country - skipping employment legality checks. Uber Eats, Deliveroo, and Just Eat have previously told Sky News they are continuing to strengthen the technology they use to remove anyone working illegally.

In July, the Home Office struck an agreement with the firms to equip them with tools to identify patterns of misuse and riders who are not allowed to work in the UK. As part of the deal, the government will share the locations of asylum hotels.

Read more:Billions of pounds wasted on asylum hotels Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: "Illegal working creates an incentive for people attempting to arrive in this country illegally. No more.

"Those found to be illegally working in beauty salons, car washes and as delivery drivers will be arrested, detained and removed from this country. "I will do whatever it takes to secure Britain's borders." Figures released last week showed more migrants have crossed the English Channel in small boats so far this year than in the whole of 2024.

Home Office sources confirmed that more than 36,816 people - the total for 2024 - have now crossed the Channel so far in 2025..