Ex-Ena Shaw staff prepare legal action over redundancy process

Former workers at St Helens soft furnishings firm Ena Shaw have started legal action against the firm.

Nearly 170 jobs have been lost after the company was put into administration last week due to difficult trading conditions.

Established in 1932, the specialist manufacturer and retailer of soft furnishings appointed Lindsey Cooper and Chris Ratten of RSM Restructuring Advisory as joint administrators.

Ena Shaw operated a factory in Lea Green and a store on Duke Street.

Now, some staff who lost their jobs have contacted lawyers over claims the firm failed to property consult them regarding the redundancies.

National law firm Simpson Millar said it has since received several calls from affected employees, with more coming through daily, and has begun investigations to enable appropriate legal action to be brought in order to secure a Protective Award on their behalf for the company’s failure to properly consult staff regarding the mass redundancies.

Stephen Pinder, a specialist employment law partner at Simpson Millar, said: “This is, understandably, an incredibly difficult period for those affected and many will be trying to understand the news and plan their next steps.

“To date, we have been contacted by multiple former employees who are looking to bring in claims for a Protective Award which would be paid out to those affected by redundancies where they have not properly been consulted.”

He said a Protective Award is a payment awarded by an Employment Tribunal in cases where an employer fails to follow the correct procedure when making 20 or more redundancies and, where an Employment Tribunal finds in the favour of the employees, they will be able to access the funds via the Government Insolvency Service.

Simpson Millar’s employment law team is currently instructed by former employees affected by the collapse of J Rotherham Masonry.

Last year, the firm announced that it had secured payments on behalf of 103 ex-Mutiyork staff amounting to £300,000.

The team is also pursing claims in relation to Mothercare.

RSM Restructuring Advisory has been contacted for comment.