Round 24 of the government's naming scheme lists one Trafford employer: a Hale cleaning contractor recorded as owing 15 workers £787.84 since 2019.

One Trafford employer appears in the government’s latest list of firms that failed to pay the minimum wage. It is a cleaning contractor registered in Hale, and the register records it as owing £787.84 to 15 workers.

The employer is Alpine Facilities Services Limited. Its entry sits in the Round 24 naming spreadsheet published on 3 September 2026, one of 658 employers named across the UK (Round 24 Naming Publication Spreadsheet).

It is the only entry in the round with a Trafford trading address. Nine other Greater Manchester boroughs appear on the list, several with much larger sums.

What the register actually records

The spreadsheet gives one row per employer. The Hale entry reads:

  • Arrears: £787.84
  • Number of workers: 15
  • Average arrears per worker: £52.52
  • Arrears period: 27 April 2019 to 28 April 2023
  • Sector: cleaning and maintenance, recorded under general cleaning of buildings
  • Trading address postcode: WA15
  • Constituency: Altrincham and Sale West

Companies House lists Alpine Facilities Services Limited, company number 09342379, at 3 Well Green Close, Hale, Altrincham, WA15 8PT. It was incorporated on 5 December 2014, its registered activity is general cleaning of buildings, and it is currently recorded as active, with accounts last made up to 30 November 2025 (Companies House).

Two things the figure is not

It is not a fine. The £787.84 is arrears, the money owed to the workers themselves. The naming spreadsheet does not publish penalties, and there is no per-employer penalty figure anywhere on the public record.

The penalty regime is set out separately. An employer can be charged up to 200% of the arrears, capped at £20,000 per worker, and that penalty is halved if the employer complies with the notice within 14 days. There are 28 days to appeal a notice of underpayment to an employment tribunal (GOV.UK: enforcing the minimum wage).

It is not necessarily where the underpayment happened. The government’s own bulletin for this round prints the caveat plainly: geography in the spreadsheet comes from the employer’s trading address postcode, and “in some cases, this may not be where the minimum wage underpayment occurred” (Educational Bulletin, Round 24). For a cleaning contractor, whose workers are by definition sent out to other people’s buildings, that caveat carries real weight.

Why employers end up on this list

The spreadsheet does not say why any individual employer underpaid. The bulletin does give the reasons across the whole round, and they are not what most people assume. Only 16% of the 658 were named for the obvious failure, not putting pay up when the legal rate rose.

Reasons for minimum wage underpayment, Round 24 Bar chart. Of the 658 employers named in Round 24, 257 made deductions or reductions that took pay below the minimum wage, 221 failed to pay workers correctly for their working time, 108 fell into an other category, 104 failed to pay the uprated minimum wage, 103 applied the wrong apprentice rate and 71 misapplied the accommodation offset. Some employers were named for more than one reason. Why 658 employers were named, Round 24 Number of employers. Some were named for more than one reason. Deductions or reductions 257 Unpaid working time 221 Other reasons 108 Did not pay the uprated rate 104 Wrong apprentice rate 103 Accommodation offset 71 Source: Educational Bulletin, National Minimum Wage Naming Scheme Round 24, 3 September 2026, Table 1. Graphic by The Alty Post.
Deductions and unpaid working time account for far more named employers than failing to apply a rate rise.

The bulletin’s own examples of deductions that can take pay below the legal minimum are worth reading if you employ anyone: uniform, parking permits and travel costs, training costs, till shortages, and salary sacrifice schemes including cycle to work. Unpaid working time covers rounding clock-in times, unpaid travel between jobs, trial shifts, mandatory training and work done either side of a shift.

The national picture

Round 24 named 658 employers, with around £4m repaid to more than 27,000 workers and £7m of penalties issued. Since the scheme started in 2011, more than £100m in penalties have gone to over 5,200 employers, and more than £66m has been repaid to 650,000 workers (GOV.UK press release, 3 September 2026).

This is the first naming round run by the Fair Work Agency, the enforcement body created under the Employment Rights Act and set up in April 2026. The Minister for the Future of Work, Kate Dearden, said: “Underpaying your staff is illegal, and we will not let workers foot the bill for their boss failing to follow the rules.”

Across Greater Manchester, 26 employers were named. The largest arrears were in Bolton, where one healthcare firm was recorded as owing £20,305.38 to 17 workers, and in Salford, where a care home operator was recorded as owing £18,922.79 to 82 workers. Trafford’s single entry is one of the four smallest sums of the 26.

What it means for you

If you work in cleaning, care, hospitality or childcare in Trafford, the useful detail here is what counts as underpayment. It is not only an hourly rate below the legal minimum. Money taken out of your pay for uniform, travel, parking or training can push you under the minimum, and so can time you work without being paid for it, including travel between jobs on the same shift.

You can check your own pay at gov.uk/checkyourpay, and Acas gives free and confidential advice on the pay and work rights helpline. Complaints can be made without going to your employer first. Local vacancies, and the rates employers are advertising them at, are on our jobs page.

If you employ people, the government’s message with this round was blunt: check your payroll now. The next naming round will publish the same way, one row per employer, with the local authority named.

We contacted no individual worker for this report and the register names no one. Alpine Facilities Services Limited has a right of reply and a right to appeal a notice of underpayment to an employment tribunal within 28 days of it being served; the public record does not say whether a notice was appealed. If the company wishes to respond, we will publish its statement in full.

Frequently asked questions

Which Trafford employer was named for underpaying the minimum wage?

Alpine Facilities Services Limited, a cleaning contractor registered at 3 Well Green Close, Hale. It is the only employer in Round 24 with a Trafford trading address (Round 24 spreadsheet).

How much was owed, and to how many people?

The register records £787.84 owed to 15 workers, an average of £52.52 each, over an arrears period running from 27 April 2019 to 28 April 2023.

Is the published figure a fine?

No. It is arrears, the money owed to the workers. Penalties are issued separately and are not published per employer. A penalty can be up to 200% of arrears, capped at £20,000 per worker, halved if the notice is complied with within 14 days (GOV.UK).

Does being named mean the underpayment happened in Hale?

Not necessarily. The government’s own bulletin says the geography comes from the employer’s trading address postcode and may not be where the underpayment occurred.

What should I do if I think I have been underpaid?

Check your pay at gov.uk/checkyourpay and contact Acas for free, confidential advice. You can complain through the pay and work rights route without raising it with your employer first.

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