A prominent estate agency with operations across East Anglia has been compelled to compensate staff members over £1,300 in outstanding wages following minimum wage violations.
Starkings & Watson has been found liable for £1,357 owed to six employees after the agency failed to meet statutory minimum wage requirements.
Name and shamed
Both the agency and its parent entity SWEA Ltd appear on a roster of 389 employers publicly identified by the Department for Business & Trade for wage underpayment infractions.
The financial penalty imposed on SWEA Ltd—currently facing an HMRC winding up petition—remains undisclosed.
The Neg has reached out to Starkings & Watson for a statement on the matter.
Dispute
Starkings & Watson, which positions itself as "Norfolk & Suffolk's largest hybrid estate agency", maintains eight branch locations throughout the region, with its headquarters situated in Norwich.
The firm previously attracted media attention over a tenancy disagreement involving a sex therapist operating under the professional name 'Lady Pea'.
Additional property sector businesses featured on the Department for Business list include Lux Homes Property Group Ltd, Claremont Residential Ltd, Glenmore Property Services Ltd, Arcus FM Ltd, and TOD Anstee Property Consultants Ltd.
A good employer doesn't build their business on the back of unpaid wages."
Business Secretary Peter Kyle emphasized that the overwhelming majority of UK enterprises maintain compliance with wage regulations and compensate their workforce appropriately.
"It's not fair on them when others are able to get ahead by not paying the wages their workers are owed," he stated.
"A good employer doesn't build their business on the back of unpaid wages, and I look forward to working with the new Fair Work Agency to ensure its powers are used to crack down on those who think the rules don't apply to them."
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