Staff dismissed at troubled logistics firm
Troubled family-led Northamptonshire warehousing and logistics business Linkline Transport has dismissed the majority of its employees, an employment law specialists has told TheBusinessDesk.com.
Linkline posted a notice of intention to appoint administrators via law firm Shoosmiths late last week.
Now, Nuala Toner of Nualaw has told us that that the company laid off most of its workers on Wednesday (June 19) on the grounds of redundancy with no prior warning or consultation with staff or any trade union. The employees have been instructed to apply for their outstanding wages, redundancy, notice and holiday pay from the Redundancy Payments Service, said Toner.
She added: “It appears, on our instructions so far, that Linkline may have breached the employment rights of those dismissed in that there should have been a consultation period of at least 30 days. This could give rise to a claim for failure to undertake consultation and may result in the dismissed employees being awarded compensation of 90 days gross wages, although given the administration we would expect this to be limited to £5,600 per claimant, that being the maximum compensation which is covered by the Redundancy Payments Service.
“Those affected have three months from the date of the dismissals to bring a claim and we would urge anyone who has been affected to contact us or seek legal advice.”
Linkline was founded in 1993 and boasts heavy-hitting clients including Primark and GXO. The company provides logistics, haulage, warehousing and pallet network services across the UK.
Last May, the firm secured a £12.5m funding line from Shawbrook Bank. The facilit, which included a £5m Confidential Invoicing Finance loan to support working capital requirements and a structured cash flow facility – was meant to enable the firm to expand into additional sites.
According to Companies House, Linkline’s accounts were supposed to be filed by the end of March at the latest, but are overdue.
Linkline has been contacted for comment.
