Eden nightclub staff consider legal action after losing jobs

FORMER workers at Newcastle nightclub Eden are considering taking legal action against the company after they were abruptly made redundant before Christmas.

Staff at the site lost their jobs last week when the club’s owner, Deltic, was bought out of administration by Nordic firm Rekom. However, 10 of Deltic’s sites, including Eden Newcastle, were not part of the deal and were closed permanently.

Former workers at the club are now considering legal action for the way the process was handled and say they were only given half an hour’s notice that they were being made redundant.

Businesses are required by law to give a minimum of one week’s notice of redundancy to staff who how have been employed for less than two years. This rises to one week’s notice for each year employed, up to a maximum of 12 weeks.

Ethan Newman, 24, from Newcastle, is one of those considering taking legal action against the company. Mr Newman worked as a bar supervisor at Eden and had previously worked at Tiger Tiger before it was sold.

Mr Newman said: “We got an email half an hour before the meeting saying it was important meeting. We were told we were being redundant with immediate effect. None of the redundancy or holiday pay would be paid by them, it would be handled by the Government.

“We got little to no help. We were basically told: ‘You are being made redundant, good luck’.”

Rekom has already said that it will not cover the cost of redundancy and holiday pay for those made redundant. As Deltic entered administration, the cost will be picked up by the Government but this means that staff are unlikely to receive any pay before Christmas.

Staff have complained about a lack of communication from the company since the beginning of lockdown. It had become widely known in the trade press that Deltic was in financial difficulty.

Mr Newman said: “We have been told absolutely nothing since February. “It is horrendous. I don’t know why they have done this the way they have.”