A UK garment industry expert tells Just Style producing more garments in the UK will ensure better regulation and improved worker protections after more than 1,200 garment workers in Leicester are alleged to have been illegally underpaid over the past five years.

The data released by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and claimed to be obtained by UK news publication the BBC, covered the period from 2019-20 to 2023-24 and is said to highlight significant wage exploitation in the local garment industry. 

The workers are reported to be collectively owed £177,678 ($225,063) in National Minimum Wage arrears and penalties totalling £338,504 were imposed on the textile companies responsible.  

A freedom of information (FOI) request from the BBC also claims that none of the employers involved in the underpayments cases faced criminal charges. 

UK worker outreach programme Fashion-workers Advice Bureau Leicester (FAB-L)’s lead engagement officer Tarek Islam, tells Just Style that while the figures about underpaid garment workers in Leicester are concerning, they don’t tell the full story. 

He explains: “The UK, despite its challenges, remains one of the safest and most regulated places in the world for garment workers.”

He adds that issues like underpayment need addressing but suggests that compared to sourcing countries elsewhere, the difference is stark.

He’s keen to point out that UK workers have legal protections and mechanisms to recover unpaid wages,and organisations like FAB-L hold companies accountable. 

He says: “While the numbers from Leicester are troubling, they also show that the system works — HMRC investigated, penalties were issued, and wages were recovered. This is accountability you simply don’t see in much of the global garment industry.” 

Since its launch, FAB-L has recovered over £200,000 in missing or unpaid wages. However, Islam notes that all of these cases involved employers failing to pay workers at all, rather than paying less than the minimum wage. 

“The real issue in the UK isn’t necessarily underpayment but rather the lack of access to effective remediation when workers need to file complaints or resolve disputes,” he points out. 

Over the past three years, Fab-L has connected with over 1,000 garment workers and, in collaboration with brands, trade unions, and auditors, created a remediation system that has successfully and fairly resolved hundreds of complaints and disputes.

For Islam, the real solution isn’t outsourcing and ignoring the problem — it’s producing more garments in the UK. 

He highlights that “domestic production ensures better regulation, improved worker protections, and transparency in the supply chain” and adds: “It’s time for the government and brands to commit to ethical practices by bringing more manufacturing back to the UK, where fairness and integrity can be enforced.”

Islam also points out that NGOs such as Fab-L need consistent funding and as it stands, FAB-L has no funding secured to operate beyond October 2025. 

“It is absurd that we are now in our fourth year, yet we operate on year-to-year funding with no long-term financial stability and not a single financial support from local or national government in the past three years, despite multiple attempts to secure it. This is particularly frustrating given the ground-breaking changes and successes we have achieved during this time,” he asserts. 

The BBC’s FOI request is also said to have revealed details of formal investigations into wage compliance within the textile sector.  

According to HMRC, 171 cases were opened in Leicester between April 2019 and April 2024, making up the majority of 255 cases in the UK textile industry during this period. The tax authority also reported identifying over £390,000 in wage arrears for more than 2,000 workers across the country. 

Labour Behind the Label, a campaign group focused on workers’ rights told the BBC the figures were “significant” and “deeply concerning” but not surprising.  

Kaenat Issufo from the group urged for more sustainable and ethical practices that prioritise workers’ rights and called for further action from policymakers and industry leaders to transform Leicester’s garment sector into one characterised by fairness and integrity. 

HMRC said it had recovered more than 60% of the unpaid wages identified on a national level and is employing civil measures to reclaim outstanding payments. This includes preventing employers from liquidating their businesses to evade wage obligations. 

An HMRC representative also stated that the HMRC would collaborate with the official receiver to ensure affected workers are recognised as creditors. If evidence suggests that company directors have violated National Minimum Wage laws or attempted to evade responsibilities, HMRC may refer cases to the Insolvency Service for potential disqualifications. 

Most HMRC investigations were said to have commenced between April 2020 and April 2022. The FOI response confirmed no convictions related to wage arrears have occurred, with prosecutions reserved for severe non-compliance cases due to potential delays and uncertainty regarding worker compensation. 

Earlier this week UK online fashion retailer Boohoo Group was advised to be “extremely careful” after placing new orders with a supplier that was “disengaged” when the retailer culled its supplier list on the back of a so-called “modern slavery scandal” in 2021. 

In an exclusive interview with Just Style two years ago Islam explained why empowering garment workers remains key to tackling modern slavery in UK factories.