‘Relyon has treated staff shockingly’

A UNION has said it is

“disgusted” by the loss of 82 jobs at a Somerset bed-making firm less than two weeks after it entered administration.

Staff working at the Relyon factory in Wellington were given the news of their redundancies on Friday, July 10, after an “urgent review” of the business was carried out by administrator

PWC.

Relyon is owned by the Blue Group, which also controls Harveys and Formation Furniture in Bridgend, and fell into administration late last month.

In a statement, Matt Roberts, regional political officer of the GMB Union, said the way in which staff at the factory had been treated was “truly shocking” and that there had been no consultation with trade unions ahead of the decision to cut staff.

It has also been claimed that some staff members were laid off via an automated message, but this has been disputed by PWC, which says that employees were told by a joint administrator.

Mr Roberts said: “Some of those made redundant have worked at the factory for over 40 years. There has been no formal consultation whatsoever with the trade union and we had no advance warning of this. We, therefore, have no knowledge of how these 82 members were selected by the administrators.

“This is a truly shocking way to treat people, and our regional officers and reps will do everything they can to support the workforce at this difficult time. We call on those hiding behind automated messaging to instead meet, consult and work with the trade union, to ensure a fair and transparent process, to explore all options to save the site, and treat people with respect.”

Relyon employed around 365 people at its Wellington factory before making the redundancies, with 283 members of staff remaining at the company.

In response, a spokesman for PWC said: “Given the company’s financial situation and the administrators’ duty to the creditors, it was necessary to urgently review the business to reduce costs at Relyon.

“Working alongside management, the joint administrators identified 82 roles which were no longer required whilst ensuring the retention of adequate skills and capacity in each division to meet the ongoing requirements of the business.

“The 82 employees affected were invited by email and/or telephone to join a live call, via WebEx, at 4pm on Friday. On that call, one of the joint administrators spoke to the employees and made the redundancy announcement.

“Around 70 individuals joined that WebEx call. Following the call, an email was sent to all affected to provide support and additional information.”