Two stores in Grimsby from the same chain have been subject to licence reviews on the grounds of “crime and disorder – immigration offences”.
Both are owned by the same husband and wife, Mr Sandeep Gaddu and Mrs Barinderjeet Gaddu and are part of the wider Go Local chain. They were up for licence review by North East Lincolnshire Council’s licensing sub-committees on December 7 due to having an illegal worker.
The Go Local store in Chelmsford Avenue, Grimsby, has had its licence suspended for three months and additional conditions imposed. The wait for a decision on the licence for Go Local in Littlefield Lane, Grimsby, will continue into next year though. This is due to an ill councillor on the sub-committee who was unable to attend, meaning there were not enough members to be able to make a decision.
The two stores were subject to a surprise visit by Humberside Police with Home Office immigration enforcement officers on September 8. This was after an allegation had been made that an illegal worker, an Indian man aged between 25 and 34 years old, was working at both for cash in hand.
An illegal worker was found at each store in the simultaneous inspections. Both premises were also in breach for not having CCTV recording going back at least 31 days and lack of Challenge 25 display material, the scheme to challenge people buying alcohol who look under 25. A baseball bat and ball were found at one shop behind the counter, while at the other store, it was initially claimed the illegal worker was watching cricket on the TV.
Go Local Chelmsford Avenue baseball bat and ball, found behind the counter by police and immigration enforcement officers. (Photo: Humberside Police/North East Lincolnshire Council)
The owners have accepted the breach of immigration offences. In a statement submitted to the Littlefield Lane store review, they also said they were now familiar with immigration legislation.
At the Chelmsford Avenue store, it was claimed that the illegal worker was simply looking after the shop for five minutes and had not served any customers. It was 35 minutes before Mrs Gaddu arrived and a print-out of the latest receipt found one had been issued three minutes before police and enforcement officers arrived. A review of CCTV footage there also showed the man had been working in the premises on at least two days in the immediate weeks before.
It was observed by police and immigration enforcement when ordered to close the shop until a licence holder came, that the man appeared “very familiar with the procedure” to turn off appliances and shut the store. The man was also identified as the illegal worker at the store by police in a previous visit in November 2021.
A baseball bat and ball were found under and behind the counter at the Chelmsford Avenue store. “Items like this should not be stored behind a counter where there is potential for it to be used as a weapon against a customer,” said the attendee licensing police officer in her written statement to the council.
When Mrs Gaddu was questioned about this during the police and enforcement officers’ visit in September, she at first claimed it was for her children to play with. It was pointed out that the shop is by two main roads and a busy car parking area, so there was not the space for that. Mrs Gaddu then said the baseball bat and ball were for sale. This was also challenged as neither had a price tag and there was nothing similar in the shop, and she responded that the items had been there for some time, but were not used as a weapon.
The police officer states she then recalled seeing the baseball bat at the previous November 2021 visit and asking for it to be removed, which had been agreed with. Mrs Gaddu was told “in no uncertain terms” that the item had to be removed immediately. This was complied with.
“They have a complete disregard to the licensing objectives and also the law regarding illegal workers,” added the police officer in her statement of the police’s view of the license review. The illegal worker at the Chelmsford Avenue store said when interviewed in November 2021 he was a cousin of Mr Sandeep Gaddu and he had helped out for two to three weeks.
Go Local Chelmsford Avenue (Photo: Donna Clifford via LDRS).
He had worked from 7 to 11 each day and said he was paid about £8 an hour. The man indicated he was aware he did not have permission to be in the UK and was arrested for the immigration offence. He was also found to be wanted for a criminal offence, though the nature of this is not specified.
Immigration enforcement and Humberside Police have sought the revoking of the licenses for the two premises, but did set out conditions to impose if the council’s licensing sub-committees did not agree. The licensing sub-committee which considered the case of Go Local in Chelmsford Avenue were not unanimous in their verdict.
But they decided to suspend the premises licence for three months and require additional conditions suggested by Humberside Police and immigration enforcement. These include:
Sufficient camera coverage of all entry and exit points, areas not easily covered from the sales counter and all areas where alcohol is either sold or displayed
The CCTV system must be capable of continuous recording in colour and copies of such recordings must be kept for at least 28 days
The CCTV system to be capable of producing copies of recordings on site in DVD or USB form when requested by a council or police officer who shows their identification
All staff to receive training, including covering all aspects of the responsible sale of alcohol
An initial claim was made at the Littlefield Lane store that the illegal worker there was just watching cricket and was not working. When CCTV footage was reviewed showing the same man working in the store for 75 minutes before and on other recent dates, police and enforcement officers report it was admitted he had been working there.
The individual was in the country on a visitor visa due for expiry of September 23. As part of the visa’s conditions, he was prohibited from employment. He was issued by immigration enforcement with an administrative caution.
After advice from solicitors John Barkers of Grimsby, Mr Sandeep Gaddu issued a statement to the local authority accepting the breach of immigration law at the Littlefield Lane store. He says in the statement that the man found by police and enforcement was his brother: “My brother had a visa to enter the United Kingdom and I was not aware that he was not allowed to work.
“I now know differently. As a family member he was helping us and was not being paid. I now know that he should not have been providing such help.” He goes onto state there will be “no repetition” as his brother left for India in September and that the civil liability penalty for the infringement has been “a shock to me and the business”.
In a second statement, made jointly by Mr and Mrs Gaddu, they state they have now familiarised themselves with immigration legislation. A personnel record is also being kept for all members of staff and possible applicants to jobs to remove the potential to employ illegal workers in future.
Approximately £663 million has been paid to over 4,300 claimants across four schemes for the victims of Post Office Horizon scandal. This is up from £594 million figure reported last month.
Sharing the latest report, Department for Business and Trade (DBT) stated on Friday (7) that £315 million has been paid under Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS), including interim payments while £128 m has been paid under Group Litigation Order (GLO) Scheme.
£65 million has been paid under Overturned Convictions (OC) and £156 million has been paid under Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme (HCRS).
Initial interim payments are available to eligible postmasters upon getting their conviction overturned on the grounds that it was reliant on Horizon evidence, states the department.
As of 31 October 2024, all 111 eligible claimants have either reached full and final settlement or received a minimum of £200,000 through interim payments.
From these 111, Post Office Ltd has received 82 full and final claims.
Of these 82 claims, 66 have been paid and a further 7 have received offers. The remaining 9 are awaiting offers from Post Office Ltd.
"Post Office Ltd has been progressing non-pecuniary settlements first to get money to postmasters as quickly as possible, which means a number of partial settlements have been reached in addition to the full and final settlements published here. Post Office Ltd continues to work on finalising these outstanding claims," states the department.
Under GLO scheme, the department had received 408 completed claims from eligible GLO postmasters. 252 have been paid and a further five have accepted offers and are awaiting payment. Another 126 postmasters have received offers from DBT and the remaining 24 are awaiting offers.
In HSS, £315 million has been paid including £33.3 million in interim payments to original claimants and £7.9 million in interim payments to late applications.
DBT informs, "On 13 March 2024, the government announced that all eligible HSS claimants would be entitled to a fixed sum award of £75,000 to settle their claim.
Post Office Ltd continues to make top-up payments to claimants who had previously accepted a full and final offer below the value of £75,000, to bring their total redress to £75,000."
The Post Office Horizon scandal saw more than 900 sub postmasters being prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 after faulty Horizon accounting software made it appear that money was missing from their accounts.
Hundreds are still awaiting compensation despite the previous Conservative government announcing that those who have had convictions quashed are eligible for £600,000 payouts.Read more.
A former sub-postmaster who was wrongly convicted amid the Horizon scandal has recently received a £600,000 settlement.
Keith Bell, 76, was a sub-postmaster in Stockton, Teesside, between 1987 and 2002, when he was convicted of false accounting. He had to do 200 hours of community services when he was convicted.
Speaking to BBC, Bell stated that though he feel he could finally do the things he should have done for 20 years, he did not feel entirely vindicated.
"There's parts of my life I'll never be able to have over, but now I've got a chance to do things I haven't been able to do," he said.
"I decided that at my age I wanted to accept the offer that was given to me, I could have appealed for more, but that would have meant the process going on for years."
"Because of that conviction I lost jobs, I was unable to find work that could support my family, basically, and I became bankrupt," he said.
Bell added that he was inspired to fight for compensation by the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office.
He said, "I never, ever, thought I'd be in a position to challenge the Post Office, I didn't know enough about IT, I didn't have enough legal knowledge, nor did I have the funds to do it - I just decided I needed to put my weight behind the cause."
Last May, the government quashed all convictions which were part of the Post Office scandal.
Bell said the U-turn had been a "huge relief".
He added daily life had been a "struggle" over the past 20 years, but he was very lucky his customers and friends had been "very kind", while he was aware other sub-postmasters had a "terrible time".
Bell had spent years believing he had been at fault for the shortfalls which occurred at his Post Office branch in Stockton-on-Tees.
He had been a sub-postmaster from 1985, and like hundreds of others, began to experience unexplained shortfalls in his accounts after having the Horizon IT system installed in his branch.
He called Post Office helplines but was given little support, so when his books didn’t balance, he’d make up the shortfall himself. He did this firstly from his own savings, then from the proceeds of a house sale, before finally delaying some transactions in desperation to "make the books look right".
When auditors noticed discrepancies and wrongly told him other sub-postmasters had not had issues with Horizon.
He admitted to a charge of false accounting over a shortfall of £3,000 at Teesside Magistrates’ Court in 2002 and was handed a sentence of 200 hours community service. Unable to maintain mortgage payments on the business property, it was repossessed by the bank.
James Hall & Co. Ltd is celebrating apprentices across the business during National Apprenticeship Week 2025.
Under the theme of ‘Skills for Life’, apprentices in a range of departments from IT to marketing, food and drink processing to facilities and maintenance, and butchery to retail are being acknowledged.
Their contribution includes the success of James Hall & Co. Ltd and its associated brands SPAR, Clayton Park Bakery, Fazila Foods, Ann Forshaw’s Alston Dairy, and Graham Eyes High Quality Butchers.
In the last 12 months, several new Apprenticeships have been undertaken by employees at James Hall & Co. Ltd who are seeking to upskill in areas include horticulture, photography, food technology, printing, and recruitment.
The company is also working more closely with universities and colleges on Degree Apprenticeships, and more than half of James Hall & Co. Ltd’s Apprentices are completing qualifications at Level 4 or above.
Wendy Parkinson, Early Careers Lead at James Hall & Co. Ltd and national member of the Apprenticeship Ambassador Network, said, “We are extremely proud of our Apprentices and the significant contribution they make to our business performance.
“We offer continuous career development opportunities to our employees, whether that is young people starting out in their career, members of our workforce who are seeking to progress in their current role, or employees who retrain to go down a new career pathway within the business, such is the range of different careers within a company like James Hall & Co. Ltd.”
Current Apprentices, as well as those who have completed Apprenticeships, have spoken of the positive impact that knowledge and skills development has had on their careers.
James Hall & Co. Ltd honors apprentices across various departments.James Hall & Co. Ltd
The company’s Apprentices will be celebrated with colleagues studying a range of other qualifications at the annual James Hall Learning and Development Awards taking place later this month.
Grace Wood, a Level 2 Horticulture Apprentice, based at James Hall & Co. Ltd’s SPAR Distribution Centre, said, “I am really enjoying my Apprenticeship, and we have a diverse landscape within the depot grounds that continuously require attention to keep our site looking at its best.
“In the role I am in, you get the immediate satisfaction of seeing the improvement work that you have done. I love the opportunities my Apprenticeship is providing me to be creative through planting with different species and colours.”
Lavina Holt, a Level 2 Food & Drinks Process Operator Apprentice, at Ann Forshaw’s Alston Dairy, said, “I love my job and the Apprenticeship has made me feel more confident when carrying out my role. It has been useful understanding food hygiene and health and safety in greater detail, and a recent GMP audit which I shadowed was particularly interesting.
“I have had a mixed career, and I was nervous about taking up the Apprenticeship believing I was too old for learning. However, I have found the experience to be the complete opposite. I feel it has set me up well in a position I am happy in, with the potential for career progression.”
Steven Dennison, a former Team Leader Level 3 Apprentice, who is Assistant Store Manager at SPAR Wolsingham, said, “I have nothing but praise for Apprenticeships and the two that I have completed. They have supported my career progression and cemented my position in retail.
“I love retail because of its unpredictability with no two days the same. I began on a contract of 16 hours per week, before moving to a 30-hour contract at SPAR Lanchester. With the role I am in now in Wolsingham, there is the added challenge of the forecourt, deli, and butchers, and I will do a further Apprenticeship in the future.”
James Hall & Co. Ltd is a fifth-generation family business which serves a network of independent SPAR retailers and company-owned SPAR stores across Northern England six days a week from its base at Bowland View in Preston.
The Coca-Cola Company on Tuesday announced robust fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 results, demonstrating the effectiveness of its “all-weather strategy” amidst a dynamic global landscape.
The beverage giant reported a 6 per cent increase in net revenues for the fourth quarter, reaching $11.5 billion (£9.24bn), while organic revenues surged by an impressive 14 per cent. For the full year, net revenues grew 3 per cent to $47.1bn, with organic revenue up 12 per cent.
“Our all-weather strategy is working, and we continue to demonstrate our ability to lead through dynamic external environments,” said James Quincey, chairman and chief executive. “Our global scale, coupled with local-market expertise and the unwavering dedication of our people and our system, uniquely position us to capture the vast opportunities ahead.”
Fourth-quarter organic revenue saw a 14 per cent jump, fueled by a 9 per cent rise in price/mix and a 5 per cent increase in concentrate sales. Full-year organic revenue grew 12 per cent, driven by an 11 per cent increase in price/mix and a 2 per cent rise in concentrate sales.
Fourth-quarter operating margin reached 23.5 per cent, compared to 21.0 per cent in the prior year. Full-year operating margin was 21.2 per cent versus 24.7 per cent in the prior year, impacted by items including a $3.1 billion charge related to the fairlife acquisition. Comparable operating margin expanded for both the quarter and the full year, driven by strong organic revenue growth.
Fourth-quarter earnings per share (EPS) increased 12 per cent to $0.51, with comparable EPS also up 12 per cent to $0.55. Full-year EPS declined slightly to $2.46, while comparable EPS grew 7 per cent to $2.88. Currency headwinds impacted both EPS and comparable EPS performance, the company said.
Coca-Cola added that it gained value share in total non-alcoholic ready-to-drink (NARTD) beverages for both the quarter and the full year.
Global unit case volume grew 2 per cent in the fourth quarter, and 1 per cent for the full year. Sparkling soft drinks grew 2 per cent for both the quarter and the full year. Trademark Coca-Cola also saw 2 per cent growth in both periods.
Juice, value-added dairy and plant-based beverages declined 1 per cent for the quarter and were even for the full year. Water, sports, coffee and tea grew 2 per cent for the quarter and declined 1 per cent for the full year.
The company attributed the decline in coffee, 1 per cent for the quarter and 3 per cent for the full year, to the performance of Costa coffee in the UK.
Looking ahead to 2025, Coca-Cola anticipates organic revenue growth of 5 to 6 per cent and comparable EPS growth of 2 to 3 per cent. However, the company expects a 3 to 4 per cent currency headwind for comparable net revenues and 6 to 7 per cent for comparable EPS.
Dutch brewer Heineken on Wednesday reported a slight dip in sales for last year, mainly due to currency fluctuations, although overall beer volumes increased.
The world's second biggest brewer after AB InBev said revenue in 2024 came in at €36 billion (£30bn), compared to the €36.4bn it made the year before.
Beer volume overall grew by 1.6 per cent. In 2023, the brewer reported a 4.7 per cent decline in overall beer volume.
"Our beer volume expanded in all four regions, across both developed and emerging markets," said CEO Dolf van den Brink.
Looking ahead, the company said it expected to post "continued volume and revenue growth" despite ongoing economic challenges.
These included "weak consumer sentiment in Europe, volatility, inflationary pressures and currency devaluations across developing markets, and broader geopolitical fluctuations," the firm said.
Net profits were down sharply, at €978 million, compared to the €2.3bn posted in the previous year.
However, the company explained this was due to a one-off impairment from an investment in China Resources Beer, whose share price tanked on the Hong Kong stock exchange.
This write-down already hit the half-year results. "It's old news," said Van den Brink, describing it as a "technical adjustment."
The firm forecast operating profit before exceptional items and amortisation to be in the range of between four and eight percent in 2025.