Who was sanctioned, and for what?

During an inspection as part of an investigation into bid rigging, a work mobile phone and documents were removed from the premises on the instructions of a manager, and possession of a work mobile phone was denied. The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) imposed a fine of 25,000 GBP on M&J.

Authority / court

Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)

Area of law

Competition law · Cartels and collusion

Legal basis

Section 40A(1) Competition Act 1998

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Construction and real estate

Culpability

intentional

Liability of senior managers

Measures against individuals are not reported here.

Published

24 Sep 2026

Original amount 25,000 GBP, converted at the ECB reference rate of 24 Sep 2026.

Checked against the official source on 28 Sep 2026 · Version 3 · Direct link

Between 2019 and 2021, untreated sewage, sewage residues, diesel from a generator and waste entered a stream and the sea around Faversham and Whitstable; the circumstances of one incident were not reported to the Environment Agency, around 70 fish died, and bathing warnings were in place at beaches in Tankerton and Herne Bay for almost a week. The court imposed a fine of 2,416,666.67 GBP, 69,894.04 GBP in costs and a 190 GBP victim surcharge; it was the company's second conviction that year (announcement of 22 September 2026, exact date of judgment not stated). According to the annual accounts filed with the UK companies register for financial year 2026, the company had around 3,109 employees.

Authority / court

Bromley Magistrates' Court (Anklage: Environment Agency)

Area of law

Environment and sustainability · Emissions and permits

Legal basis

Regulations 12(1)(b) und 38(1)(a) Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Energy and utilities

Employees

1,000 to 9,999

Repeat case

yes

Published

22 Sep 2026

Original amount 2,486,750.71 GBP, converted at the ECB reference rate of 22 Sep 2026.

Checked against the official source on 28 Sep 2026 · Version 3 · Direct link

A 24-year-old labourer working as a temporary worker for a scaffolding company fell, in his second week of work on the developer's housing site, through a stairwell opening that was neither securely covered nor guarded, dropping one storey onto concrete and suffering serious spinal injuries. The court found the company guilty on three counts because it had neither adequately planned nor supervised work at height and had not taken suitable measures to prevent falls. Fine of £300,000 plus costs. The company is a micro-enterprise with fewer than 10 employees.

Authority / court

Leeds Magistrates' Court (Anklage: Health and Safety Executive)

Area of law

Health and safety and employment law · Workplace safety and accidents

Legal basis

Work at Height Regulations 2005

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Construction and real estate

Employees

Under 50

Published

21 Sep 2026

Original amount 300,000 GBP, converted at the ECB reference rate of 16 Sep 2026.

Checked against the official source on 28 Sep 2026 · Version 3 · Direct link

While decommissioned powder extinguishers were being discharged in Oldbury in 2023, a cartridge-type extinguisher exploded and struck a 37-year-old employee on the head, fatally injuring him. There was no risk assessment, no safe system of work, no suitable storage and no restraint system for discharging; the recycling business (20 employees according to its annual accounts) was fined 40,000 GBP plus 17,034.25 GBP in costs.

Authority / court

Birmingham Magistrates' Court (Anklage: Health and Safety Executive)

Area of law

Health and safety and employment law · Workplace safety and accidents

Legal basis

Section 2(1) Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Other

Employees

Under 50

Published

17 Sep 2026

Original amount 40,000 GBP, converted at the ECB reference rate of 14 Sep 2026.

Checked against the official source on 28 Sep 2026 · Version 2 · Direct link

Following a partial pipe collapse at the Fleetwood wastewater treatment works, untreated sewage flowed from three pumping stations into the Irish Sea for over 35 hours in June 2023; seven bathing waters were affected and shellfish beds were closed. The water company pleaded guilty to five offences and must pay a fine of 900,000 GBP, 62,225 GBP in costs and a 2,000 GBP victim surcharge. According to the annual accounts filed with the UK companies register for financial year 2026, the company had around 6,678 full-time equivalent employees.

Authority / court

Preston Magistrates' Court (Anklage: Environment Agency)

Area of law

Environment and sustainability · Emissions and permits

Legal basis

Regulation 38(2) Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Energy and utilities

Employees

1,000 to 9,999

Culpability

negligent

Mitigating circumstances

Around 38 million GBP invested in response and repair, and a voluntary payment of 250,000 GBP to Blackpool Council.

Published

8 Sep 2026

Original amount 964,225 GBP, converted at the ECB reference rate of 8 Sep 2026.

Checked against the official source on 28 Sep 2026 · Version 3 · Direct link

At the Kettleby Foods plant in Melton Mowbray, an employee and a contractor were scalded with hot water while replacing a leaking gasket on an isolation valve of a steam line (burns to 4–5 % and 9 % of their body surface respectively). The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the task had neither been assessed nor documented as a safe system of work, isolation and lock-off procedures had not been applied, fall protection was missing and supervision was inadequate. Following a guilty plea, a fine of £594,000, plus £6,000 compensation for the injured employee, costs and a victim surcharge.

Authority / court

Birmingham Magistrates' Court (Anklage: Health and Safety Executive)

Area of law

Health and safety and employment law · Workplace safety and accidents

Legal basis

Section 2 Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Food and agriculture

Published

16 Sep 2026

Original amount 594,000 GBP, converted at the ECB reference rate of 4 Sep 2026.

Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link

In the 24th naming round of the National Minimum Wage scheme, B&Q was listed first: the company had underpaid 4,530 workers by a total of £456,934.72 (period according to the list: 15 May 2020 to 31 March 2025). Named employers had to pay the arrears and additionally received penalties whose amount per employer is not published (around £7m for the whole round). The amount is the arrears ordered to be repaid, not a fine.

Authority / court

Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade / Fair Work Agency (Ermittlung: HM Revenue and Customs)

Area of law

Health and safety and employment law · Minimum wage and undeclared work

Action

Order

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Retail and e-commerce

Published

3 Sep 2026

Original amount 456,934.72 GBP, converted at the ECB reference rate of 3 Sep 2026.

Checked against the official source on 3 Oct 2026 · Direct link

At the Ladden Garden Village construction site in Yate, a subcontractor washed silt from the site drainage into two brooks over six days in July 2022. The Environment Agency accepted an Enforcement Undertaking: BDW is paying 201,500 GBP to three environmental and charitable projects, bears the investigation costs and had already invested over 180,000 GBP in remediation, training and improved surface water management. According to the annual accounts filed with the UK companies register for financial year 2025, the company had around 5,217 employees.

Authority / court

Environment Agency

Area of law

Environment and sustainability · Emissions and permits

Legal basis

Environmental Civil Sanctions (England) Order 2010 (Enforcement Undertaking)

Action

Other

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Construction and real estate

Employees

1,000 to 9,999

Mitigating circumstances

Acceptance of responsibility, remediation, training of employees and application for a discharge permit.

Published

3 Sep 2026

Original amount 201,500 GBP, converted at the ECB reference rate of 3 Sep 2026.

Checked against the official source on 28 Sep 2026 · Version 3 · Direct link

In February 2025, a pile of scrap collapsed on a father and his son at the metal recycler's site while an excavator had been working near them for around 20 minutes; one of them suffered a broken leg. Pedestrians were separated neither from machinery nor from unstable stockpiles, even though there had been a near miss involving the same excavator shortly before. Fine of £40,000 plus £6,181 costs. According to the annual accounts filed with the UK companies register for financial year 2025, the company had around 18 employees.

Authority / court

Grimsby Magistrates' Court (Anklage: Health and Safety Executive)

Area of law

Health and safety and employment law · Workplace safety and accidents

Legal basis

Section 3(1) Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Steel and metals

Employees

Under 50

Mitigating circumstances

After the accident, a separate unloading zone, signage, supervised procedures and fenced-off walkways were introduced.

Published

2 Sep 2026

Original amount 40,000 GBP, converted at the ECB reference rate of 1 Sep 2026.

Checked against the official source on 28 Sep 2026 · Version 3 · Direct link

Between February 2018 and September 2019, five leaks of highly flammable hydrocarbons occurred at the Mossmorran major hazard site (COMAH upper tier), all caused by corrosion under insulation; around 82 tonnes escaped in one leak. During a routine inspection in May 2019, inspectors of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) smelled escaping gas – the company had known about this leak for around four months and had continued production without additional precautions. The inspection arrangements for insulated pipework were inadequate; fine of 267,000 GBP.

Authority / court

Health and Safety Executive (Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court)

Area of law

Health and safety and employment law · Workplace safety and accidents

Legal basis

Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, reg. 6(2); Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, s. 33(1)(c)

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Chemicals and pharmaceuticals

Employees

10,000 or more

Published

26 Aug 2026

Original amount 267,000 GBP, converted at the ECB reference rate of 25 Aug 2026.

Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link

The operator of quinnbet.com will pay £415,986 in lieu of a financial penalty to the Consolidated Fund (the UK Government's general account) under a settlement and contribute to the Commission's investigation costs. The settlement also includes a disgorgement of £193,118, which is not included in the amount shown. A compliance assessment found breaches of the anti-money laundering licence condition LC 12.1.1 paras. 2 and 3 (March 2023 to August 2025) and of the customer interaction requirements under SRCP 3.4.3; following an error during a platform migration, some of the required financial vulnerability checks under SRCP 3.4.4 were also not carried out between February and May 2025. It is the first enforcement action against the company.

Authority / court

Gambling Commission

Area of law

Money laundering and terrorist financing · Internal controls

Legal basis

s. 116 Gambling Act 2005; LC 12.1.1 Abs. 2 und 3, SRCP 3.4.3 und SRCP 3.4.4 Abs. 1 der Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP)

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Other

Repeat case

no

Mitigating circumstances

No previous enforcement action, a swift action plan, full cooperation, early voluntary reporting of some of the failings, voluntary divestment of the funds gained from them and early acceptance of the failings.

Published

20 Aug 2026

Original amount 415,986 GBP, converted at the ECB reference rate of 20 Aug 2026.

Checked against the official source on 3 Oct 2026 · Direct link

According to the HSE, the sawmill failed to protect employees from wood dust (no face-fit testing for respiratory protective equipment, no health surveillance) and let staff drive lift trucks without training; three improvement notices from the HSE (Health and Safety Executive, Britain's workplace safety regulator) were not complied with. The court fined the company, a micro-entity, 20,000 GBP plus 5,000 GBP in costs.

Authority / court

Truro Crown Court (Anklage: Health and Safety Executive)

Area of law

Health and safety and employment law · Workplace safety and accidents

Legal basis

Section 2(1) und Section 33(1)(g) Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Other

Employees

Under 50

Liability of senior managers

Measures against individuals are not reported here.

Published

21 Aug 2026

Original amount 20,000 GBP, converted at the ECB reference rate of 20 Aug 2026.

Checked against the official source on 28 Sep 2026 · Version 2 · Direct link

Mainly between February and November 2022, the London branch processed 970 payments totalling around 19.7 million GBP that breached Russia and anti-corruption sanctions. The causes were overloaded alert handling after the wave of designations, delayed escalation and human error; the bank voluntarily disclosed most of the breaches and received a 20% reduction from HM Treasury's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI).

Authority / court

HM Treasury, Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI)

Area of law

Sanctions and export control · Breaches of sanctions and embargoes

Legal basis

Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019; Global Anti-Corruption Sanctions Regulations 2021; s. 146 Policing and Crime Act 2017

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Financial services and insurance

Employees

10,000 or more

Mitigating circumstances

Predominantly voluntary disclosure and cooperation (20% reduction); exceptional burden caused by the 2022 sanctions packages taken into account

Published

2 Sep 2026

Original amount 4,732,830.58 GBP, converted at the ECB reference rate of 11 Aug 2026.

Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link

The UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) issued a reprimand to ACRO Criminal Records Office. According to the ICO, it followed a cyber incident that may have affected the personal data of around 10,000 people in the UK. The ICO found infringements of the duty to implement appropriate technical and organisational security measures under Article 32 UK GDPR. No fine was imposed.

Authority / court

Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)

Area of law

Data protection · Data breaches and data security

Legal basis

Art. 32(1), 32(1)(b) und 32(1)(d) UK GDPR; Verwarnung nach Art. 58(2)(b) UK GDPR

Action

Reprimand or warning

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Public sector

Checked against the official source on 28 Sep 2026 · Version 2 · Direct link

The ICO fined Elderly Aids Limited, a seller of call-blocking devices, £190,000 and also issued an enforcement notice. The ICO found that the company had made 758,053 unsolicited direct marketing calls to numbers registered with the TPS/CTPS whose subscribers had not agreed to such calls, leading to 20 complaints. The legal basis is regulations 21 and 24 of PECR. Under the notice, payment by 7 September 2026 reduces the amount by 20% to £152,000.

Authority / court

Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)

Area of law

Data protection · Marketing and consent

Legal basis

Regulations 21 und 24 PECR; section 55A DPA 1998 (Geldbuße), section 40 DPA 1998 (Anordnung)

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Retail and e-commerce

Original amount 190,000 GBP, converted at the ECB reference rate of 6 Aug 2026.

Checked against the official source on 28 Sep 2026 · Version 2 · Direct link

Over an extended period before November 2022, Airbus Operations Ltd breached the Export Control Order 2008: transfers of controlled technology under three open general export licences (OGEL) were not correctly documented, required registers were missing, and one individual licence was not complied with. The case came to light through voluntary disclosure and was concluded by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) by way of a compound settlement (date of publication).

Authority / court

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) / Export Control Joint Unit

Area of law

Sanctions and export control · Export control and dual-use goods

Legal basis

Export Control Order 2008, Art. 29(2) und 29(3) (Auflagen und Register bei OGELs) sowie Auflage einer SIEL; Straftaten nach Art. 38(1)(a) und (b); Compound Settlement durch HMRC

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Manufacturing and mechanical engineering

Employees

10,000 or more

Mitigating circumstances

Voluntary disclosure, full cooperation, remedial measures

Published

30 Jul 2026

Original amount 6,409,388 GBP, converted at the ECB reference rate of 30 Jul 2026.

Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link

The FCA publicly censured the corporate finance firm Equity for Growth (Securities) Limited. The FCA found that between January 2018 and August 2019 the firm approved seven information memoranda for four unregulated minibond issuers as financial promotions. In the FCA's view, these documents omitted key information, such as the level and range of commissions, so investors could not properly assess the risk. Because the firm was wound up by the court in March 2026 on the FCA's petition, no fine was imposed; the FCA stated that it would otherwise have been £386,467 (including disgorgement).

Authority / court

Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)

Area of law

Consumer protection and online retail · Misleading advertising and pricing

Legal basis

COBS 4.2.1(1)R; section 205 FSMA 2000 (Public Censure)

Action

Reprimand or warning

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Financial services and insurance

Checked against the official source on 28 Sep 2026 · Version 2 · Direct link

The Metropolitan Police handed a defendant unredacted documents containing the new address and telephone number of a stalking victim, and in a circular e-mail disclosed 18 people with a parliamentary connection in an open recipient list. The UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) ordered improvements within 3 and 12 months, including in data protection training completion rates.

Authority / court

Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)

Area of law

Data protection · Data breaches and data security

Legal basis

Data Protection Act 2018, Section 40

Action

Order

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Public sector

Employees

10,000 or more

Culpability

negligent

Published

5 Aug 2026

Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link

The games supplier will pay £4,750,000 in lieu of a financial penalty under a regulatory settlement, contribute to the Commission's investigation costs and accept an additional licence condition requiring an independent audit within twelve months. Five genuine Evolution games were accessible at scale to consumers in Great Britain via six websites of two operators not licensed by the Gambling Commission; between April 2024 and January 2025, its risk assessment and its anti-money laundering policies and controls did not adequately address risks arising from business partners in particular (LC 12.1.1, LC 12.1.2). After the Commission notified it in December 2024, Evolution immediately and permanently blocked the games for users in Great Britain.

Authority / court

Gambling Commission

Area of law

Money laundering and terrorist financing · Internal controls

Legal basis

s. 116 Gambling Act 2005; LC 12.1.1 Abs. 1–3 und LC 12.1.2 der Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP); Reg. 18, 19(1)(a) und 28(1) Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Other

Mitigating circumstances

A swift action plan with progress updates, full cooperation with the investigation and early acceptance of the failings.

Published

23 Jul 2026

Original amount 4,750,000 GBP, converted at the ECB reference rate of 23 Jul 2026.

Checked against the official source on 3 Oct 2026 · Direct link

In 2021 a 35-year-old employee was crushed by a 1.6-tonne concrete weight at the cement bagging plant in Sharpness. A large section of the perimeter fencing had routinely been removed over a prolonged period, leaving dangerous moving parts freely accessible. The company – with 12 employees according to its 2024 annual accounts – was fined 1 million GBP plus 9,621 GBP in costs.

Authority / court

Bristol Magistrates' Court (Anklage: Health and Safety Executive)

Area of law

Health and safety and employment law · Workplace safety and accidents

Legal basis

Section 2(1) Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Construction and real estate

Employees

Under 50

Published

21 Jul 2026

Original amount 1,000,000 GBP, converted at the ECB reference rate of 21 Jul 2026.

Checked against the official source on 28 Sep 2026 · Version 2 · Direct link