B&M has been fined £2m for food hygiene offences after Birmingham City Council prosecuted the retailer over breaches at three stores.
The offences occurred at St Andrew’s Retail Park, Priory Square Shopping Centre and The Fort Shopping Park stores. They were investigated by the council’s Environmental Health Service following complaints and inspections between November 2024 and October 2025.
At St Andrew’s Retail Park, Environmental Health Officers visited the premises on 11 November 2024 following reports of pests on the premises. Officers found “significant evidence” of mouse activity, including mouse droppings and gnawed food products on sale, according to the council. A hygiene emergency prohibition notice was served due to a serious risk to public health.
The Priory Square Shopping Centre store was closed immediately after officers carried out an inspection on 22 January 2025, in response to a complaint from a member of the public. The officer found evidence of an active mouse infestation, including gnawed food products, mouse droppings and urine contamination on food packaging and shelving, inadequate cleaning standards and structural defects allowing pest entry. A hygiene emergency prohibition notice was served.
At The Fort Shopping Park, officers found “widespread evidence” of mouse activity throughout the premises during an inspection on 27 October 2025, following another complaint alleging an infestation. The evidence included mouse droppings and gnawed food products on the shop floor and in storage areas. Mouse droppings were also found in proximity to children’s toys on display. The store was also formally closed using another hygiene emergency prohibition notice.
After pleading guilty to the offences at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court, B&M was ordered to pay a £2m fine within 28 days at sentencing hearing on 13 July. The variety discounter was also ordered pay £18,104 prosecution costs and a £2,000 victim surcharge.
“Residents rightly expect businesses operating in Birmingham to maintain high standards and provide safe environments for customers,” said councillor Sam Forsyth, chair of the licensing and public protection committee.
“The health and wellbeing of Birmingham residents will always come first, and the conditions identified by our Environmental Health officers across these stores were unacceptable and required immediate intervention to protect the public.
“I welcome the work of our Environmental Health teams in identifying these risks and taking swift action. This substantial court penalty reflects the seriousness of the offences and sends a clear message that businesses must take their responsibilities seriously. Birmingham City Council will continue to take robust enforcement action where necessary to protect residents and ensure standards are upheld across the city.”
B&M is already battling a serious decline in trading, with like-for-like sales down 2.3% in the 13 weeks to 27 June.
A B&M spokesperson said: “We are deeply sorry for the failings identified in the three stores and have taken full responsibility.
“While food safety and pest-control procedures were in place in each store, those procedures were not followed. That should not have happened. We recognise that these failures were unacceptable and that we must learn from them.
“Since identifying the issues in question, we have taken comprehensive action to strengthen controls across our business. Those actions include enhanced management oversight, a significant expansion of our pest control capability, implementing new digital monitoring processes and an increase in third-party pest control store visits across our estate.
“These changes are designed to give us better visibility, faster escalation and clearer accountability, so that issues are addressed promptly and consistently.
“We remain fully committed to meeting high standards of food safety and maintaining safe, clean and hygienic stores.”
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