An investigation by the BBC has revealed that signs of modern slavery were overlooked for years at a McDonald’s franchise and a factory supplying bread to major UK supermarkets. Sixteen victims, trafficked from the Czech Republic, were forced to work at both locations, including a pitta bread factory supplying chains such as Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, and Waitrose.
The victims, vulnerable due to homelessness and addiction, were exploited between 2015 and 2019. Despite working long hours—sometimes up to 100 hours per week—nearly all of their earnings were stolen by the trafficking gang. The workers, who could not speak English, had their wages funneled into bank accounts controlled by the gang. Investigations revealed that signs of forced labor, such as excessive overtime and multiple victims sharing a single address, were ignored for years by the businesses involved.
Police were only alerted to the situation in 2019 when Czech authorities tipped off their British counterparts. The gang, a family-run human trafficking network from the Czech Republic, had been operating for over four years, during which time its members enjoyed luxurious lifestyles funded by the stolen wages of their victims. In a recent statement, McDonald’s UK and several retailers acknowledged their failure to detect the abuse, while pledging to implement new measures to prevent such incidents in the future.
The victims lived in squalid conditions, including a leaking shed and an unheated caravan, while their captors amassed wealth, including luxury cars and property. Attempts by some to escape were thwarted, as they were recaptured and trafficked back to the UK. Dame Sara Thornton, former independent anti-slavery commissioner, expressed deep concern over the missed opportunities to rescue the victims sooner.
The Modern Slavery Act, introduced in 2015, requires larger companies to publish their actions to combat slavery. However, as former Prime Minister Theresa May noted, this case underscores the failure of companies to properly investigate their supply chains. The UK government has pledged to take further steps to address modern slavery, pursuing gangs and ensuring better protection for victims.
McDonald’s has since initiated an independent review and updated its systems to better detect risks such as shared bank accounts and excessive working hours. However, critics argue that these changes come too late for the victims, whose exploitation continued unchecked for years.