Topwok Original

A response to the Daily Echo from Ronnie Luke, General Manager of Topwok Original Ltd.

The Daily Echo recently published an article about recent events here at Topwok concerning illegal immigrants. Whilst we will not deny any wrongdoing in regards to the charges brought by the court, as is so often the case with stories in the press that are constrained by editorial guidelines, word limits and fulfilling the attributes of sensationalism, the full version of events can never be completely understood from reading a newspaper column.

Whilst stopping short of offering a judgement on the circumstances the story written by Jane Reader and sanctioned by her Editor carries the implication that I have exploited my staff for financial gain and that I have not provided adequate accommodation facilities.

To this I would like to say that Topwok Original Ltd does not make unreasonable profits and I do not live a lavish, criminally funded lifestyle. In actuality the wage I pay my staff is over and above catering industry standards, which are well in excess of the national minimum wage. My staff also benefit from many additional advantages to working at Topwok that are not counted towards their total wages such as free meals and subsidised services. I regularly have staff events and we often socialise together.

Topwok Original could not continue to provide the consistently high standards of both product and service that I am personally proud of if any of my staff were not very well looked after and happy in their duties.

We run our business much like a family and the implication that Topwok Original is somewhere unpleasant and exploitative to work is simply untrue.

To address the point made in the press about staff accommodation; my staffs are well compensated at Topwok and should they choose to, could easily afford to find good accommodation within Bournemouth or Poole. Under certain conditions where staffs have found themselves unable to find suitable accommodation or were sending monies home to their families I have allowed them to stay on premises for the immediate short term. The conditions are far from squalid or inadequate but I will say that they are not ideal. The room is used to sleep in, not live in and any implication otherwise is only to further degrade my reputation as a businessman in good standing in this community. I wouldn’t expect any of my staff to accept living under my store on Exeter Road as permanent and it is with this understanding that they are allowed to as and when it is convenient for them to do so.

Lastly, to address the causes of the court judgement itself. Whilst I try hard to run my business according to all the Government guidelines available, it is inevitable that in a business such as mine that is so heavily scrutinised yet so poorly regulated that there would be considerable margin for error within which to fall foul of the law. As a businessman of moderate success within this community I have many daily responsibilities and a flexible set of priorities that are largely dictated by the day in hand. Catering is very much a ‘hands on’ type of business but even still I am unhappy at my failings with respect to the simple administrative failures that have lead to me not checking on the status of some of my staffs visas. It is a regulation I have neglected to take care of and for that I have been fined heavily. I simply feel that a silly attempt at character assassination in the local press is taking the matter a little too far. Our press should be supporting local commerce, not hurting it.

To read the original article in the Daily Echo, please use the link below.

http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk

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