‘I feel like I can never really trust big companies’
Elizabeth Gardner, a test technician at Kaiam, was at home preparing food for a staff Christmas buffet when a colleague called her with the news that they wouldn’t be paid.
The 21-year-old from Bathgate said: “I was distraught. I took a half day so that I could make food for my colleagues. I was also planning to buy last-minute Christmas presents, but I can’t now because I haven’t been paid.
“I live with my mum and thankfully she’ll support me but there are people with children who haven’t done their Christmas shopping yet. It’s horrible for them.
“We all knew things weren’t looking too good. The company offered staff the chance to buy holidays to save the company
‘ Pezeshki could have admitted that we’re in a bad situation
money as well as unpaid holidays. They also said we would have orders coming in around October, which never followed. We lost a lot of our staff due to the uncertainty.”
Elizabeth also took a swipe at the boss of Kaiam, Bardia Pezeshki. “He could have at least given us the news himself, instead of going back to America,” she said. “He could have admitted we’re in a bad situation instead of leaving it to the day before we got paid. We’re all very angry with him.
“I saw him at the Christmas night out, socialising with everyone. I assumed things would look up after the new year because it was a jolly gathering so it’s upsetting knowing what I know now.
“I was crying when I found out the company has gone into administration. I don’t know what to do now. This is only my second job and it’s opened my eyes. I feel like I can never really trust big companies.”