'Saviour of Papa Johns' accused of taking unlawful slice of foreign workers' pay

A franchisee's firms have been taken off the Home Office licensed list after a joint Observer and BBC investigation

- Cormac Kehoe, Catherine Neilan & Freya Shaw

In the summer of 2024 Aarav was just finishing a masters in international business management at a British university. Born in India, and on a student visa that was fast running out, he needed to find a job with a company that would sponsor him to remain in the UK.

When someone shared an advert in a WhatsApp group promising exactly that, Aarav not his real name thought he had struck gold.

"Papa Johns work visa available - all over UK," proclaimed the advert. It offered positions at the pizza chain with no need for experience or qualifications, although successful candidates would need to pay a sponsorship fee.

Aarav replied, and soon found himself in an interview with a man called Jabbar Mumtaz. Described by local media as the "Papa Johns saviour", Mumtaz was responsible for 13 Papa Johns franchises across Devon and Cornwall, having taken them over in late 2023 from a company that was going under.

Aarav took the job and started managing one of the stores. Mumtaz agreed to sponsor his visa.

"In the beginning he was nice," said Aarav. "But after one or two months the tone changed, and he started asking for £750/800 from our salary each month."