Hays Travel poised for Maidenhead high-street move — but national wage list casts a long shadow
A local expansion by hays travel into the former Laurents Bakehouse unit on Maidenhead High Street is underway, with refit work started even as the company appears on a government list of employers found to have underpaid staff. Posters at 33 High Street advertise a branch “opening soon”, while the agency’s current premises in the Nicholsons Centre face closure ahead of demolition and redevelopment in early June (ET).
hays travel moves into the former Laurents Bakehouse unit
Independent travel agency Hays Travel has been based in the Nicholsons Centre since taking over a former travel unit in 2019. The French-inspired Laurents Bakehouse, which previously occupied 33 High Street and sold pastries, sandwiches and drinks, closed last year. Posters now at the vacant unit indicate a Hays Travel branch will open there; a spokesperson for Hays Travel said that “refit work has started”. No opening date has been announced.
National enforcement data and what it reveals
At the same time as local activity in Maidenhead, national enforcement action has named nearly 400 employers for failing to pay the legal minimum wage. Government figures show 389 employers have been identified, with around 60, 000 workers found to have been underpaid and more than £7. 3 million repaid to those employees. Penalties totalling £12. 6 million have been issued on top of the repaid wages.
The government list includes a range of companies and highlights that even well-known employers can be found in breach of wage rules. hays travel appears among the named organisations on that list. The enforcement action aims to ensure workers receive wages owed and that penalties deter future breaches.
Expert perspectives and what officials say
Business Secretary Peter Kyle said: “The vast majority of businesses in this country do the right thing by paying their staff properly and playing by the rules. It’s not fair on them when others are able to get ahead by not paying the wages their workers are owed. ” Employment rights minister Kate Dearden added: “Nobody should finish a week’s work and find they’ve been paid less than they’ve earned. I believe in a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work. ” These statements accompany the government’s broader enforcement programme to recover unpaid wages and impose penalties.
The combination of local expansion and national scrutiny places Hays Travel’s Maidenhead move in a wider regulatory context. Local residents will see a new shopfront at 33 High Street while national figures underline that workplace compliance remains a central issue for employers across sectors.
For the Maidenhead high street, the arrival of a new Hays Travel branch — with refit work underway — may bring footfall and continuity of service in a unit vacated last year. Yet the presence of hays travel on the enforcement list frames the opening as more than a routine change of tenancy: it is also a reminder that corporate growth and regulatory obligations must proceed in parallel.
As the Nicholsons Centre prepares to close in early June (ET) ahead of demolition and redevelopment, businesses and residents face a shifting local retail landscape. Meanwhile, the government’s recovery of more than £7. 3 million for underpaid workers and the issuance of £12. 6 million in penalties signals intensified oversight of wage compliance nationally.
Will the local benefits of a new Hays Travel branch in Maidenhead be matched by renewed scrutiny and corrective action at a corporate level — and how will employers balance expansion with strengthened obligations to staff? The unfolding developments in Maidenhead and the government’s enforcement data leave that question open.
