Ex-workers were ‘kept in dark’ over fashion chain’s fate Hundreds of staff could make legal claim

AHANDFUL of workers at a doomed fashion chain have opened the door for up to 900 colleagues to make legal claims worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Six former employees at Shirleybased Store Twenty One had complained they had been “kept in the dark” over their futures with the company.

And this week, a Birmingham employment tribunal ruled that their treatment flew in the face of the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act.

Formed in 1932, Store Twenty One, which had its HQ at Blythe Way Business Park, once boasted 200 outlets, and had a workforce of 900.

The company went into compulsory liquidation last year after being squeezed by the credit crunch.

It had been battling for survival after failing to secure investment following a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) in July 2016, which saw the closure of 77 shops.

The six former employees have now made successful legal claims against Grabal Alok (UK) Ltd, trading as Store Twenty One. They were among 90 employees office.

Tribunal Judge Woffenden has awarded them 90 days protective awards from July last year.

A protective award is the legal term for wages approved as compensation after employers failed to keep their workers fully informed of the employment situation under the terms of the Act.

A protective award, approved by the Government, has a ceiling of just over £300 a week.

Judge Woffenden described the legal claims for protective awards as “well-founded”.

The six former employees are: Mrs C Lockwood, Mr A Ellis-Jones, Mrs A Hunt, Ms L Holbrook and Mr and Mrs H Woolliscroft.

In addition to the protective awards, Mrs Lockwood and Mr and Mrs Woolliscroft were awarded unpaid wages and holiday pay.

Mrs Woolliscroft was awarded £1,447 unpaid wages and £1,544 holiday pay; Mr Woolliscroft was awarded £615 unpaid wages and £1,200 holiday pay.

Mrs Lockwood was awarded £762 unpaid wages and £486 holiday pay.

Other former employees are now expected to make similar claims.

Store Twenty One’s slide into liquidation was revealed last July. at the head

It had experienced a dip in turnover from £93 million to £57 million.

Among the affected stores were outlets in Perry Barr, Erdington, Kings Heath, Northfield, Shirley, Chelmsley Wood and Sheldon.

In April 2017, the company’s management filed a notice to appoint administrators after Store Twenty One was served with a winding-up notice by HM Revenue & Customs for breaching the terms of the CVA.

The application was withdrawn, and a second was made in June, but was again withdrawn prior to the court finally issuing an order to wind the company up.

Simon Bonney, Carl Jackson and Paul Zalkin, partners at corporate recovery and business advisory firm Quantuma, were appointed to handle the liquidation.

At the time, Mr Bonney said: “It is very sad that matters have got to the stage where all the stores were closed by management on Friday following a prolonged period of uncertainty leading up to the liquidation.

“We are now in the process of conducting an orderly wind down and we would welcome contact from any interested parties who may wish to purchase assets of the company.”