Nev Wilshire, the David Brent-style star of BBC Three series The Call Centre, has been accused of failing to settle redundancy payments to nearly 20 staff who lost their jobs following the closure of yet another of his firms.
RIS Insulation in Abertillery was part of the Save Britain Money group which ceased trading on October 30 and became the fourth business owned by Wilshire to shut up shop within 12 months.
Nationwide Energy Services collapsed in August, owing unsecured creditors £5.8m, while We Claim U Gain and Fuelswitch.com were both axed in November 2013.
Now the GMB union has called on Wilshire to pay what he owes to his former employees as they face Christmas with no income. The union claims staff at the firm, a loft and cavity wall insulation specialist, are still owed redundancy pay.
GMB regional officer Jeff Beck said: “These workers have been left with no income in the weeks running up to Christmas. GMB calls on Mr Wilshire to pay redundancy monies, holiday pay and pay in lieu of notice or monies owed from overtime work that has not been paid. GMB is also filing legal claims on behalf of these members.”
In response, Wilshire claimed he is working to collect invoices so that redundancy payments can be made.
In a statement issued he said: “In October, the directors of SBM Energy Services Limited, previously named RIS Insulation Ltd, made the difficult decision to stop operations at the Abertillery branch and mothball the site. The business had been losing money throughout 2014 as a direct result of a sustained downturn in the insulation industry.
“This shrinkage of the industry was caused by changes to the government grant system which had allowed homeowners to make free energy efficiency improvements to their properties. As a result, the insulation industry has seen thousands of jobs lost and dozens of companies forced out of business.
“The directors of the business worked hard to seek new contracts and retain jobs despite mounting losses, but by October had no viable option other than to close operations at the Abertillery depot.
“The directors can confirm that the salaries due from October were paid on time and that they are currently working to collect invoices due to them in order that redundancy payments can be calculated and processed.”
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