Aberdeen takeaway manager fined after illegal workers discovered during immigration search

The former manager of a Chinese takeaway in Aberdeen has been banned from working as a company director for seven years after employing three illegal workers.

Immigration Enforcement officers visited the former Chinese Cooking takeaway on Holburn Street in September 2022, where three Chinese nationals in their 50s and 60s were found.

The group had been hired by Qiqing He but had no right to work in the UK.

The 54-year-old, from Aberdeen, was disqualified as a director at a hearing of the Court of Sessions in Edinburgh last month.

He was found to be the director of QQ Holburn Limited, the company through which the takeaway traded.

Despite formally resigning as company director four months before the raid, He continued to control and manage the business.

In interviews with Immigration Enforcement, he admitted that he had employed the workers and was responsible for paying them.

Immigration Enforcement fined the company £30,000 for the immigration breach, which remains unpaid.

Dave Magrath, director of investigation and enforcement at the Insolvency Service, said: “Company directors have a responsibility to follow all the rules and regulations expected of them.

“Qiqing He clearly failed to do this, employing three people who had no right to work in the UK.

“Illegal working puts some of the most vulnerable people in society at risk of exploitation, undercuts honest employers who pay their taxes, and encourages others to break our immigration laws.”

Minister for border security and asylum, Dame Angela Eagle, added: “These sanctions demonstrate the serious consequences that await business owners who flout employment regulations.

“All employers have a responsibility to carry out right to work checks on individuals they hire and we’re ramping up enforcement action against those who fail to do so.”

The disqualification order prevents He from becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court until February 2032. 

QQ Holburn stopped trading as a company in March 2024.

A Chinese takeaway with a different company and trading name currently operates from the same address as Chinese Cooking. He is not a director of this company.