How many modern day slaves are in Bristol?

Bristol is well known for its historic links to the transatlantic slave trade, but modern day slavery in Bristol isn't discussed as much.

What is modern day slavery?

Modern slavery is an unseen crime that goes against human rights. 

It can happen in places such as: 

• takeaways
• hotels
• car washes
• nail bars
• factories 
• farms and agriculture
• private homes

There's no typical victim of modern slavery. Victims can be:

• adults, who might be exploited in the labour market or whose homes might be used as a base for drug dealing (cuckooing), trafficked or sexually exploited in brothels
• young people, who might be groomed and exploited for moving drugs
• children who might be trafficked, sexually abused, forced into servitude

Modern Slavery in Bristol

Here are some examples where people in Bristol have been convicted of "Modern Slavery".

2024 - Bristol drug dealer jailed for modern slavery offence

Tai Makessa, of Hepburn Road, Bristol, pleaded guilty to two counts of supplying Class A drugs and modern slavery offences in which children were exploited to transport and sell drugs. Mohammed Sillah, of Kings Meadow, in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, was found guilty of two counts of supplying Class A drugs and for being in possession of criminal property and cannabis.

2022 - Bristol slavery victims recount 'horrendous' abuse

The trial heard how they kept vulnerable Slovakians as slaves - forcing them to work at their car wash during the day and other jobs at night - and spent their earnings on gambling, buying cars and funding their lavish lifestyles.

2018 - Lopresti ice cream bosses charged with slavery offences

Two members of the Lopresti family, famous for selling ice cream in Bristol, have been charged with offences relating to modern slavery. Robert Lopresti, 45, and Salvatorie "Sam" Lopresti, 74, both of Long Ashton, are due to appear before magistrates in the city on Thursday. Avon and Somerset Police said the men had both been charged with requiring a person to perform forced labour.

See also: Bristol Cable - The Lopestri Files

These days slaves don't arrive in Bristol on specially designed slave ships, instead they arrive by coach, bus, plane and car.

The Government have recently published a report that shows the number of illegal working civil penalties handed out to companies from 1 October to 31 December 2025.

These organisations have either been fined for employing people who don't have the right to work in the UK, or who have been brought into the UK with work visas supplied by the organisation and then "enslaved" by that organisation.

In Q4 2025, almost £19 million in penalties were handed out to 330 organisations in the UK.

10 of these organisations are in the Bristol area and received penalties of £965,000 in Q4 of 2025.

The companies range from takeaways, restaurants, car washes and corner shops.

The largest penalty of £200,000 was received by Goldbeck Solar Farm.

03/09/2025 - Fifteen illegal workers arrested at solar farm

Supported by Avon and Somerset Police, the Home Office's Immigration Enforcement team arrested 15 illegal workers at the Goldbeck Solar Farm in Bristol. Their employer could face a fine of up to £45,000 per illegal worker. Goldbeck Solar Farm said it had launched an urgent investigation into the incident. Those arrested were of Kazakhstani, Turkish, Georgian, Uzbekistani, Kyrgyz and Tajikistani nationalities, and 13 had entered the UK on temporary work visas. All 13 submitted asylum claims prior to their visas expiring. Of these, 10 claims remain outstanding and three claims have been refused.

Goldbeck Solar Farm have got a modern slavery statement on their website and partner with Octopus Energy who also publish a modern slavery statement.

The penalty of £200,000 was the 2nd largest in the UK, with the top penalty being handed out to "Pennys - Green Ore Farm Recycling" in Wells who received a £315,000 penalty.

Here are some recent press reports where employers have been found to use illegal workers:

April 2025 - Indian restaurant shut after illegal workers found

Red Rose, in Clevedon, has been handed a six-month court order following a visit by the Home Office's Immigration Enforcement team on 12 April. Enquiries found three men from Bangladesh, who had no right to work in the UK, were being employed. Despite attempting to evade officers by running out of the back of the restaurant, they were detained and arrested, the enforcement team said. Taunton Magistrates' Court heard on 16 April how officers had visited the premises twice before and it had previously been issued with a £30,000 fine for hiring illegal workers.

August 2025 - ITV News witnesses illegal working raids, as charities accuse government of 'scapegoating' migrants

After the officers are briefed, we head in a van to the first stop: a nail salon. A team of seven officers heads in. They make three arrests, all of them Vietnamese nationals. While arrests are made around them, customers continue to get their nails done by some of the employees. At least one of those arrested is an asylum seeker: they aren't allowed to work while their asylum claims are processed. The third person arrested is the manager of the nail salon, who is accused of facilitating illegal work. But officers tell me this is the fourth time this nail salon has been raided in less than a year. So is this enforcement even working, or worth it, or just a futile game of cat and mouse?

May 2025 - Somerset Indian restaurant cannot serve alcohol after ICE raid

Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) said that it had found “clear indications of labour exploitation” when it visited the restaurant on March 20, 2025. Immigration officers found five people carrying out cooking, cleaning, and front of house work who had no right to work in the UK or were working in breach of conditions. The workers told immigration officers they were not paid — except for one who said they received “pocket money” — and received food and accommodation for their work instead. Six beds were found in three shared bedrooms upstairs which, according to the plans for the premises, were officially supposed to be offices.

Feb 2026 - Evri delivery driver's shock at immigration raid where she claims officers went for 'darkest people first'

The raid took place at Evri’s distribution depot at the Riverside Park industrial estate in St Anne’s on the morning of Thursday, February 12. It was the second raid in just over two months - Immigration Enforcement teams raided the same depot on December 10. At the first raid, a total of ten people were arrested for immigration offences. At the more recent raid, a total of four people were arrested - two men and a woman from Georgia, and a man from Nigeria. “They went straight for the darkest people, and the men first. They seemed to be waves of them and police. They wanted to put wristbands on people which they said were to show that you’d already been spoken to, but they would be going up to people and demanding to know where they were born, what their nationality was".

What do Bristol City Council say?

Bristol Modern Slavery Transparency Statement 2021-2022

Critical to the inclusive and sustainable growth of our City, is the eradication of exploitation in all its forms. Bristol City Council has zero tolerance towards modern slavery. As part of Local Government, the Council recognises our responsibility to take a robust approach. We work collaboratively with our partners to identify and support victims and to disrupt and bring to justice the perpetrators of such crimes across the city. We take very seriously, our responsibility to safeguard the most vulnerable in society, to build strong and resilient communities – to ensure there is no modern slavery in our supply chains.

Cllr Abdul Malik would like to see an end to immigration raids in Bristol (Bristol Post Jul 2025)

“It’s not easy being a small business owner in this country right now, especially if you’re from a migrant background, or you’re part of the communities that get targeted first when the government needs a headline,” he said.

“I’ve had my businesses raided by immigration officers. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. They come in like they’re kicking down the door of a criminal empire, when in reality, it’s just people trying to earn an honest living.

“They pull out their cameras, take photos of your staff, turn everything upside down, and treat you like you’re running a cartel—when all you’re doing is trying to get by. Then they make it sound like they’re cleaning up the streets,” he said.

The Work Rights Centre published an article where they highlighted problems with the current system of enforcement.

The Skilled Worker visa route has been widely abused by unscrupulous employers, who manipulated the system to exploit migrant workers. The Home Office has finally stepped up its compliance over the last two years, revoking the sponsor licences of a record 1,516 businesses in the last quarter of 2025. We welcome the improved due diligence.

But every licence revocation comes with a cost: workers’ visas are still tied to their non-compliant employers. Unless recognised as victims of modern slavery, which rarely happens, exploited migrants struggle to secure a new immigration status, and have little access to remedy.

We are calling on the government to urgently address this issue, as it ramps up enforcement activity, by reforming the Skilled Worker visa route and implementing a compensation scheme for exploited workers.

With thousands of licence revocations and no changes to the sponsorship system, the stakes for Skilled Workers are higher than ever.

We welcome this enforcement effort. As the Home Office itself points out, “sponsorship is a privilege, not a right.” But the people who came to the UK in good faith and were subsequently exploited by government-approved businesses are still missing support. In its current design, the system still enables employers to control migrants’ immigration status and livelihoods. And what’s worse, the government now wants to tie workers to their sponsors even longer, by radically restricting their right to settlement.

Skilled Worker Visa Route

Data sourced from GOV.UK Register of licensed sponsors

Who can sponsor Skilled Workers to come from outside of the UK?

Looking at organisations that are able to sponsor skilled workers we can see that if you exclude London then Bristol is number 5 in the top 10 cities, having 1,276 organisations that can sponsor foreign workers.

Only certain job roles are permitted to be hired as "Skilled Workers".

Data sourced from GOV.UK Eligible Occupations

Here are some examples:

Higher Skilled (sample)

Medium Skilled (sample)

Ineligible Jobs (full list)

The long list of ineligible jobs include:

• Bar staff
• Barbers
• Builder’s labourers
• Coffee shop workers
• Cooks
• Delivery drivers and couriers (not elsewhere classified)
• Door supervisors
• Farm labourers
• Hairdressers
• Hospital porters
• Nail technicians
• Packers, bottlers, canners and fillers
• Retail cashiers and check-out operators
• Taxi and cab drivers and chauffeurs
• Vehicle valeters and cleaners
• Waiters and waitresses

Examining the names of the sponsor organisations provides some information about these businesses.

Food

Restaurant

Pizza

I have mapped many of the Bristol Sponsor Organisations to Companies House data to find out what business they carry out. These are the top categories for the businesses I have been able to map.

Restaurants, vape shops and takeaways are in the top 5 categories.

Brislington News

Bobby's News Agents

AirHop

ChillGrill Ltd

People interested in coming to the UK for work, can use the SponsorSearch website to locate businesses that can sponsor skilled worker visas.

STAR CASH & CARRY (BRISTOL) LTD

Bedminster Parade Post Office

New Horizons Kebab Ltd

And here are a few examples of businesses that could be expected to recruit skilled workers using the Skilled Worker scheme:

Aardman Animations

Bristol City Council

Bristol Rovers Football Club Limited