14 November 2011

Release on behalf of Bestway Wholesale

Following an incident involving the UK Border Agency (UKBA), accompanied by police at the Bestway Wholesale depot at Kingsway Park, Liverpool at approximately 11.42 hrs. on 10 November 2011, the Bestway Group has issued a strongly worded statement of condemnation concerning the actions of the agency.

The facts as reported in the press that surround the incident, and that were endorsed by the UKBA in their statement, give a totally false picture of the truth of the situation and are incorrect.

The circumstances surrounding the raid by the agency involved a tip off that Bestway was employing illegal immigrants at this depot. After an exhaustive search by over 50 officers and police dogs of the 80,000 sg ft. premises, one Bestway employee was apparently arrested and one other person, who was in fact was a customer doing his shopping. In fact, it was Bestway that had recently brought to the attention of (and discussed with) the Home Office the details of the member of staff that was arrested during the raid. The Home Office requested, by email, that Bestway should continue to employ the person, as deportation to Iraq was made difficult because of a "diplomatic incident." Bestway agreed to assist the Home Office in their efforts.

Clearly the other person who was detained was nothing to do with Bestway and who happened to be on the premises.

Dawood Pervez, the legal director of Bestway said, "We feel very disappointed that we were not approached in a responsible manner to discuss any potential concerns and are greatly shocked that the UKBA thought a raid, from a tip off, was an appropriate and responsible way to deal with the issue. The company has robust and thorough procedures on employment matters and has a long and successful relationship with the Home Office on all immigration matters, which seems to have been totally overlooked. A large majority of our 5000 employees are British citizens and we have never knowingly employed any illegal immigrants.

"The UKBA has, in a bad week for them elsewhere, been made to look foolish and must now be embarrassed by this action when it could have been so easily dealt with had they contacted us in a proper manner. We also feel they were extremely heavy handed in the manner in which they behaved, especially by arriving in the numbers of people and dogs involved, and also with three camera crews from various media organisations and journalists, who entered our premises while filming without any authorisation from us.

"We are a significant and professionally managed British business with IIP, ISO 5001 and many accolades and awards to our name and we very much object to the insinuation that we behave outside of the law when it comes to these matters.

"We have raised the matter at a senior level in government and the very least we expect is a full apology from the UKBA."

In addition to the professional slur upon the company, Bestway had to endure a forced closure of the depot for trading for around 150 minutes during the busiest part of the trading day. An estimated figure of £70,000 of sales was lost on the day and our regular pattern of expected business today has also been badly affected.

Bestway has an annual turnover is in excess of £2.3 billion. It is the largest independent wholesaler in the UK and is the 7th largest privately owned business in the UK. The 61 depots around the country provide 6 million square feet of sales space nationwide. Products are sold to independent retailers and caterers who form the backbone of British society.