Blackpool FC among minimum wage offenders

The club ranked 116th out of 198 employers who failed to pay their workers the legal minimum, after it was revealed that £517.88 was owed to one worker.

In a statement posted on Blackpool FC’s website, a spokesman said: “Blackpool Football Club can confirm that an HMRC compliance check during the 2014/15 season highlighted that one of its 300 employees had been paid below the national minimum wage.

“Although this was initially disputed, the matter has now been fully addressed and robust procedures are in place to ensure full compliance with the legislation in future.”

Other Fylde coast businesses on the list included the New Westmere Day Nursery on Vicarage Lane, which ranked 112th, owing a total of £561.96, and machine manufacturers A & G Precision & Sons Ltd in Poulton, which ranked 20th, owing £3,723.24 to one worker.

Arthur Pinder, managing director at A & G Precision & Sons Ltd, said: “It was an honest mistake.

“The young man in question whom we owed the money we had taken on as an older apprentice. I have a number of apprentices who we take on at 16 and pay for their training, and this man came in at 19.

“We treated him like any other apprentice. He was on an 18-year-old’s wage because he had been here for two years, even though he was actually 21.

“We just didn’t realise. We don’t usually think about minimum wage because we don’t pay minimum wage here - we’re actually one of the highest paying companies for skilled people on the Fylde coast.

“I understand these laws are in place to stop certain businesses taking advantage of their workers, but they do mean that we can no longer afford to take on apprentices older than 16 from now on.”

New Westmere Day Nursery declined to comment.