Ex-employees of collapsed business consider legal action over redundancies

Up to 60 staff who lost their jobs following the collapse of Rotherham-based Addspace Furniture Ltd are considering taking legal action for compensation.

It is alleged the company failed to consult with them before making redundancies.

The furniture manufacturer has now entered into administration, with the vast majority of its 60 staff being made redundant on 19 January. A small number of employees have been retained to assist the administrators.

Where 20 or more employees are made redundant at one workplace, a company is under an obligation to engage in an information and consultation process, which must start at least 30 days before the first redundancies are made.

It is alleged Addspace Furniture Ltd did not start that process either at all, or in time, and that staff have been made redundant without any prior warning.

Former employees from this business have contacted Leeds and Bradford-based employment law specialists, Morrish Solicitors.

Omar Ghaffoor, employment solicitor at Morrish Solicitors, said his firm is seeing an increase in cases of insolvency, particularly across various manufacturing industries in the UK.

He added: “We have already received a number of enquiries from those who have been affected by the news and who are looking for support and other ways of recouping their losses.

“If a protective award claim is successful, it could see them compensated by up to 90 days’ gross pay, up to eight weeks of which can be recovered from the National Insurance Fund, via the Government’s Insolvency Service (subject to weekly pay limits).”

“Regardless of whether a company is struggling financially, it still has a duty to carry out an information and consultation process to warn staff at risk of redundancies and help to minimise the impact.”

TheBusinessDesk.com has contacted the administrators of Addspace Furniture Ltd for comment.