BRITISH GAS owner Centrica, EG Group and Holland & Barrett are among nearly 500 firms to be named by the government for failing to pay staff the minimum wage.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) published a list of 491 employers that underpaid around 42,000 workers, who have since been repaid. 

The firms will pay a combined £10.2 million in fines for breaches that occurred over several years.

It means some workers were paid less than the national minimum wage or the national living wage, which applies to those aged over 21.

EG Group, co-founded by the billionaire Issa brothers, underpaid workers the most — £824,384 to 3,317 staff between 2018 and 2023, or around £250 per person. 

The company, which has since sold its British petrol forecourts and Cooplands bakeries, still runs Starbucks franchise stores across Britain.

Centrica failed to pay £167,815 to 356 workers, while Go Outdoors owed £240,106 to 2,058 workers and Holland & Barrett failed to pay £153,079 to 2,551 staff.

The national living wage rose from £11.44 to £12.21 in April, while the minimum wage for 18 to 20-year-olds increased to £10, and for under-18s and apprentices to £7.55.

In June, the DBT named more than 500 other employers — including Pizza Express, Lidl and British Airways — for underpaying staff between 2015 and 2022.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “There is no excuse for workers being cheated out of money they’re owed. It’s bad for workers, families and the economy.

“Every pound taken from a worker’s pocket is a pound that could have been spent in local shops, cafes and high streets.”

Business Secretary Peter Kyle said the government “will not tolerate rogue employers who short-change their staff.”

An EG Group spokesman said: “These historic payroll issues that took place between 2015 and 2019 have been fully rectified. All affected employees were subsequently reimbursed in full in agreement with HMRC.”

A Centrica spokesman said the issue “relates to a small number of historic technical errors” and that underpayments “were put right as soon as they were identified.”

A Holland & Barrett spokeswoman said: “This was not a case of deliberate underpayment. 

“All arrears were repaid in full once identified, and we acted swiftly to upgrade processes and systems.”

A Go Outdoors spokeswoman said all payments “were settled in 2022” following a HMRC review.