Lowndes Fruits closed across Staffordshire

Emma Jones

Emma Jones

A few posts under my belt
wmrcomputers said:
A very good point. Funnily enough they've been cutting back my MIL's hours for several months now, to a point where they seemed to barely want her part-time. They couldn't cut her any lower. If this IS a new company owned by the same people (not that I have any knowledge on this so purely an assumption), then they can take people on just for 8 hours a week or whatever and avoid full time contracts. More and more shops seem to run this way these days. You need 16 hours to sign-off benefits yet most retail work only wants to employ people for up to 15 hours. Or even zero hour contracts! It's all wrong.
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They cut back hours to save money to stop them shutting completely. The income obviously didn't match the total amount of the wages bill. If your mother in law didn't sign a contract or anything stating her hours they can do that. It's common business practice.
 
Emma Jones

Emma Jones

A few posts under my belt
Paul smith said:
We were told by the owner himself none of us would lose out on money, as for the 2 shops reopening those 2 were already under a different name so all debts are to mr k lowndes meaning they can reopen them. Yes it I very shitty and was well planned I want what is owed to me as do all the staff
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This is complete bullshit Keith Lowndes has nothing to do with the new business! If you ring up and ask it's his sons. It wasn't planned at all it happened in a week which shows how much you know. What are you owed though? You'll get your redundancy pay and you're not owed a job as it's a brand new company.
 
LLFC

LLFC

Well-Known Forumite
tek-monkey said:
Makes opening back up pretty stupid in my eyes?
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As for restarting the business on a smaller scale it could work if they restart the profitable parts of the business and ditch the others. I’ve seen this before when a small family business grows and starts employing all the kids (overpaid hanger-on-ers – which I have no way of validating so not suggesting that this is the case). All eggs in one basket no alternate skills or means of supporting the family. Imagine the potential disaster it these households!!!
 
captainpish

captainpish

Well-Known Forumite
Emma Jones said:
This is complete bullshit Keith Lowndes has nothing to do with the new business! If you ring up and ask it's his sons. It wasn't planned at all it happened in a week which shows how much you know. What are you owed though? You'll get your redundancy pay and you're not owed a job as it's a brand new company.
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So they only knew the company was going down the toilet in the last week or so and couldnt have given the staff any more notice? Well they musnt look at their accounts very often then must they? Just turning up one day and saying youve got no job with no notice is the issue with the employees i rekon.
 
Darren

Darren

Well-Known Forumite
Emma Jones said:
This is complete bullshit Keith Lowndes has nothing to do with the new business! If you ring up and ask it's his sons. It wasn't planned at all it happened in a week which shows how much you know. What are you owed though? You'll get your redundancy pay and you're not owed a job as it's a brand new company.
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The only bullshit is your post, they must of known long before that week that there business was in trouble, and the way they treated there staff was appalling, most of there staff had been there years and this is how they treat them shame on Lowndes!
 
arthur

arthur

Nixon Garden Neatness
Go to citizen’s advice because there are all sorts of different situations as to whether you go to the government insurance fund or if you go to court to wind the business up

If your employer has stopped trading but is not insolvent, write to your employer claiming your statutory redundancy pay. If your employer doesn't make the payment, you can make a claim to an employment tribunal. You must do this within six months of the date your employment ends.

If an employment tribunal decides that you have the right to statutory redundancy pay but your employer still doesn't pay it, you can make an application to the National Insurance Fund for your redundancy payment.

If your employer has gone out of business (is insolvent) and an administrator or liquidator has been appointed, they should give you form RP1. If they haven't, you should contact them at their registered office. The liquidator will then claim it from the National Insurance Fund

You have the right to:
  • half a week’s pay for each complete year of employment when you were below the age of 22
  • a full week’s pay for each complete year of employment when you were between the ages of 22 and 40 inclusive
  • A week and a half’s pay for each complete year of employment when you were aged 41 or above.
You can't be given statutory redundancy pay for more than 20 years' employment.

Keep in mind that you will not get your full redundancy entitlement in ether situation.

All this information and more can be found at: citizen’s advice adviser net public web site
 
wmrcomputers

wmrcomputers

Stafford PC & laptop repair specialist
@Emma Jones who I can only assume is somehow related or friends of the Lowndes (due to knowing more info than we or their previous staff do).... I just want to make something clear before we're all accused of somehow being unreasonable about this.

They were struggling. We get it!
They have had to reduce staffs hours over recent months. We get that too.
What we DON'T get and that is making us annoyed at this situation is the fact that even if this decision was only made several days before closure THEY KNEW WHAT THEY WERE DOING but still refused to do the decent thing and tell the staff until last minute. They even allowed them to work all week knowing that they wouldn't get their wages at the end of the week.

In short, it isn't to do with having to let staff go or do what they have done and re-open under a new name. They've gone about it the wrong way. 17 years of work surely deserves a reward of honesty? If they had at least been honest and given the staff some warning of what would be happening, maybe they would have people thanking them for the 17 years of employment and wishing them well, instead of slating them across Facebook and potentially reducing their ongoing custom in the future. I feel sorry for any business that is failing in the current climate - I've even been forced to start up another business as my main line of work is so quiet. I have past customers that now don't own computers. They no longer need my services. I still treat them with respect when I see them around, as I'm grateful of the bread they've put on my family's table in the past. One day they might plan a wedding and hire my photobooth. Who knows! Bottom line is to treat people how you want to be treated in life and I feel personally that Lowndes have failed on this part.

All just my own opinions of course.
 
shoes

shoes

Well-Known Forumite
Emma Jones said:
I genuinely doubt this if I'm honest. I've known the Lowndes family for a very long time and I know how much they've done to keep that business a float. All members of staff did get paid and were going to. The only members of staff that didn't get paid that week were the Lowndes family themselves as there wasn't enough money to pay them. Going into voluntary liquidation was a decision made the same week that it happened. The general advice from administration given to businesses is to not inform anyone until the last days of trading. Therefore this wasn't well planned and they were following professional advice. The idea of setting up the two shops in Stafford and Rugeley only came about as they'd still have to pay rent for them despite ceasing trading as they were under the original company name. Val and Keith have nothing to do with the new business with their children setting up the business in less than a week to stop their parents wracking up debt and to pay back what they owe to suppliers when they were trading under Lowndes Fruits Ltd. They're setting up with mostly family members as they can't afford to pay staff at current and cannot guarantee hours. They also want to keep wages to a minimum as the wage bill for Lowndes Fruits was one of the reasons the company was no longer viable. It's not to be spiteful to the staff that had been a part of the old company for years it's to stop the one of the problems that Val and Keith had with their business. Have you not stopped to consider the other side of the story instead of making them out to be monsters?!
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You're either one of them, incredibly stupid or incredibly naive. Quite frankly I think it's a mix of all three.
 
tek-monkey

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
An interesting fact would be where the assets from the business now reside. If they still reside with the owners and are sold off to pay their debts which the taxpayer otherwise has to cover then they are going about things at least semi professionally. If they were transferred to the new owners then not only is that an attempt to defraud the taxpayer but also whatever date that happened on proves how long ago they were planning this.
 
tek-monkey

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
PeterD said:
give us the lowdown @tek-monkey not a member so cant see it.
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Essentially most people saying its terrible, a small minority saying to shut up and one really happy to have lost her job cos apparently she's due 8k redundancy (which we will fund as taxpayers). Of the defenders one is the partner of someone who used the exact same tactic to dodge debts a few years ago, although he kept on his staff.
 
Darren

Darren

Well-Known Forumite
The assets were transferred to the new company, when a member of there staff rang the shop the other day to ask for advice on how to fill in the redundancy form all he heard in the background was, tell him to F*ck off before i rip his F*cking throat out.
 
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