Man found working illegally in raid on city centre nail salon
Ito USA
Nails,
A POPULAR Glasgow cafe has announced it will close with immediate effect.
Kimble’s cafe and chocolatier has been a family favourite in St Enoch Centre throughout the years but fans of the eatery have been left stunned at the sudden news.
MMIGRATION officers swooped on a city centre business and nabbed one worker in a raid.
The Home Office descended on the nail bar near St Enoch Square on Wednesday morning.
Officers escorted a 29-year-old Vietnamese man who the Home Office had found to be working illegally in the Howard Street salon.
Immigration enforcement officers walked him on to the street outside, where he was served with a notice informing him he must regularly report to Immigration Enforcement while the Home Office examines his case.
Investigations into the Vietnamese man led police to USA Nails on the street behind the St Enoch Centre.
The raid was carried out at 11:45am and the Immigration Enforcement van was seen parked further up the street in front of Angie’s Cafe across from the south entrance to the city centre mall.
The Home Office said the raid was carried out at Muse Nail and Brow Bar, which houses USA Nails – the company accused of illegally employing the Vietnamese man.
Muhammad Riad, the owner of Muse, denied any involvement with USA Nails and said they were two separate businesses.
Immigration Enforcement officers who attended the scene reportedly requested documents from Mr Riad, who said they were satisfied with this.
On a visit the
Despite appearing fully stocked, a sign outside the entrance to Kimble’s announced the closure.
It read: “We are so sorry but Kimble’s is now closed.
“To all our customers we would like to say how much we appreciated your loyalty over the years.
“To our team, a great big
Glasgow Times was told that no one from that company was in and that the company did not have a number we could use to contact them.
The business could owe the Home Office tens of thousands of pounds if it cannot prove it carried out the proper checks to establish the man’s right to work in the UK.
The salon must now prove it carried out appropriate right-to-work document checks, such as seeing a thank you for your wonderful support.
“It was much appreciated.” Owners John and Joyce Kimble opened the business back in the centre in 2002.
They later expanded to a larger premises within the building in 2010 and now also run a venue in the nearby Princes Square. passport or Home Office document confirming a person’s right to work in the country.
The Home Office can levy fines of up to £20,000 per person it finds to be illegally employed at a business.
It is understood the man has not been arrested or detained while his case is investigated but he is required to report regularly to Immigration Enforcement while enquiries are carried out.