Former Northumberland Foods workers yet to receive payments

Sep 16 2010 by Brian Daniel, The Journal

WORKERS who lost their jobs at a North food company are yet to receive payments following its collapse last month.

Northumberland Foods at Amble ceased trading in August with its entire 250-strong workforce being made redundant.

At the time, it was revealed staff had gone weeks without pay, with claims that some were owed three weeks’ wages. Workers were also told they would not be getting redundancy payments from the cash-strapped company.

They would instead have to claim back pay, redundancy and holiday pay from an emergency government fund.

Two trade unions are pursuing cash claims against the company on behalf of former workers, on the basis that it failed to consult on the redundancies.

And now, almost a month after the firm’s closure, workers are yet to receive the cash they are entitled to.

Last night, the Redundancy Payments Office (RPO) in Edinburgh, which will process the workers’ claims, revealed it had received a file of nearly 200 applications from Northumberland Foods’ administrator Begbies Traynor, on Monday.

Among those facing financial difficulties are Amiee and David Henderson, 21 and 29 respectively, of Hadston, who had worked at the site for more than 13 years between them.

The couple got married at the end of July but were then laid off just before they were due to go on a two-week honeymoon in the Dominican Republic.

Now back in the country, they are yet to receive any payments and were told on Tuesday their applications were only just about to be processed.

The couple have had to take their car off the road as they cannot afford the insurance, and have been forced to borrow money for food, shopping and rent on their Chevington Green home.

Amiee, who is also five months’ pregnant, said: “We had only been married three weeks and had to go on our honeymoon a few days after. It was all paid for, luckily.

“We did not have any spending money or anything. I am pregnant and I have had high blood pressure with the stress.”

Steven Wilson, also of Hadston, had worked at the site under various owners seven years.

The 39-year-old father of four, of Hartside Crescent, claims workers could tell Northumberland Foods was in trouble.

He said: “We kind of knew it was going downhill because I had been through the last couple of companies, I saw Jus-Rol, I saw Cheviot Foods.

“Before this lot Northumberland Foods bought it, we were doing very poor but we were doing even worse because everything was breaking down inside the factory.

“We were not producing much. When you have got 200 staff not getting much stuff out into the supermarkets you are doing badly.

“At the end we did not go through a week without things breaking down. There were no spare parts, they did not have the money to buy anything.”

The RPO at Edinburgh last night said workers should be sent a notification telling them when their claim is received. Manager Margaret Miller said 78% are processed within three weeks and 92% within six.

Last week, the Labour group on Northumberland County Council called on the authority to co-ordinate emergency assistance to those who lost their jobs.

Bosses at Hadston House Youth and Community Building have offered the use of the premises as a base for support services for those affected.