UK research reveals hand car wash sector is awash with exploitation

The risk of slavery in hand car washes across the UK has been exposed by new data from Nottingham Trent University (NTU) and modern slavery charity, The Clewer Initiative. It reveals a prevalence of indicators that make exploitation and slavery more likely.

When The Responsible Car Wash Scheme attempted to introduce a Code of Practice, hardly any hand car washes met all the criteria. The entire sector is endemically unlawful and non-compliant.

Therefore, consumers and police officers in every community need to be vigilant to spot the signs of slavery and other unlawful behavior—no hand car wash is immune.

This deep dive into the endemically unlawful and under-regulated sector:

Connected the current data on hand car wash locations held by The Clewer Initiative’s Safe Car Wash App and NTU’s research data

Enabled the team to model the type of neighborhood where a hand car wash business is likely to be located

Explored the type of neighborhoods where you are more likely to find a hand car wash business which has been reported through the App as showing warning signs of exploitation and slavery

Highlighted that more than 90% of hand car washes are likely to be employing workers illegally, without proper pay, records, PPE or first aid measures

Created a visual map for police and other agencies to use to understand where the greatest threat of modern slavery could occur.