Former workers at collapsed furniture company Godfrey Syrett are set to receive around £400,000 in compensation after winning a legal battle against the firm.
Nearly 200 people were made redundant in January when the company entered administration, with staff losing their jobs at the company’s sites in Killingworth, North Tyneside, and at Langley Moor and Belmont, County Durham.
Employees at Godfrey Syrett claimed they not adequately consulted with before being made redundant.
And after taking Godfrey Syrett to an employment tribunal, a judge ruled in favour of the workers and around 129 members of staff will now receive compensation. It is estimated that the total payout will be around £400,000.
Nualar Toner, managing director of employment law firm Nualaw, which represented the workers, said: “We claimed that Godfrey Syrett had breached employment law in not giving employees sufficient warning of the closures in January and that the consultation which took place at one of the depots, namely Langley Moor, had been a sham.”
She added: “The judge agreed with us and awarded the employees the maximum compensation of 90 days’ pay. As the company is in administration only a percentage of this is recovered (eight weeks) and is paid by the national insurance fund via the redundancy payments office given the administration of the company.
“Judgment was given by employment Judge Martin and the written judgment will likely arrive in a few weeks time.”
Nualaw represented 114 of Godfrey Syrett’s ex-employees while a further 15 were represented by trade union GMB.
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The amount each worker will receive will be dependent on their weekly pay, but the maximum each worker could receive is £525 per week. However, deductions will be made for national insurance and benefits. It is thought that most employees are owed at least one or two weeks pay.
After Godfrey Syrett entered administration ,it was revealed that the company had debts of almost £8.5m when it collapsed. Among those owed money from the furniture firm was Hexham’s Egger Uk, which was owed more than £300,000. Peterlee-based Bishops Beds was owed £99,000 while KPMG’s Newcastle office was due £84,000.
In September 2018 Godfrey Syrett was sold to Dolbia Ltd, a subsidiary of the investment group RCapital. Two months later the investment firm proposed closing the Langley Moor site, with the loss of 60 Jobs.