City Link staff to get payout after tribunal win

They pursued claims against the parcel delivery company when they were made redundant without any consultation in 2014.

The 258 claimants, including 65 from the West Midlands, were represented by Leeds-based Morrish Solicitors and were all awarded 90 days' pay.

Most of the 65 were from the company's national headquarters at Baginton, Coventry, but 10 were from the Black Country and five from Staffordshire.

Among those who lost their jobs at City Link were 47 at its Wednesbury depot, 35 at Stone in Staffordshire and 68 in Birmingham. City Link was in serious financial difficulty from an early stage and was acquired for £1 in April 2013 by Better Capital.

By early November 2014 City Link had clear plans to implement a 'turnaround plan' involving wide-scale redundancies and by mid-November 2014 it was clear there were only two options – implementation of that plan or insolvency.

By December 22, 2014 administrators were called in and their appointment was announced in the media on Christmas Day. By New Year's Eve 2,500 employees had been made redundant without appointing any employee representatives and without any consultation.

The Leeds Employment Tribunal decided that 'a conscious decision, for the financial benefit of City Link Ltd and Better Capital, was taken not to inform the employees or carry out any consultation'.

It also said 'the consequence of that decision was employees who could have been told on 22 December 2014 what was happening, perhaps been given information about redundancy payments, notice periods and so on, were told nothing. That led to their finding out they had lost their jobs on the news on Christmas Day'.

City Link suggested that Better Capital were to blame due to 'delaying the decision about whether it would invest further funds'.