A former worker at the Vale of Mowbray pie factory says he is owed hundreds of pounds in unpaid wages after the firm’s collapse.
The ex-employee, who wished not to be named, was told along with 171 staff on Wednesday that they were being made redundant after administrators were called in to wind-up the historic business.
He says that he and others have not been paid wages for shifts worked in the four days leading up to administration announcement.
This has left him £770 out of pocket for hours worked Sunday to Wednesday and he says he knows of others who have also not been paid for that period.
He told The Northern Echo: “I’ve only been there nine weeks but I know others who have been there for six years who have not been paid, so it’s not just that the last in didn’t get paid.
“One of the supervisors above me didn’t get paid, a lot of people didn’t get paid what they were owed that week.”
Read more: The village which has been left 'gutted' after famous pork pie firm collapses
The redundant employee said it was ‘galling’ because staff were told by executives on Wednesday afternoon that they would paid in full for all work hours completed up to and including September 28.
When he realised he had ‘been working for free’ for four days he said that he raised it with the firm and was told to apply for any outstanding pay via a government redundancy scheme which he said was unlikely to pay out.
He said: “It’s basically just free labour for them four days.
He added: “It is more galling than anything that we are suddenly just out of a job, but there are a lot of people worse off than me – some people worked there since they were 16 and are now 55.”
The administrators dealing with the Vale of Mowbray said that all staff should have been paid for wages up to their final day on Wednesday, September 28, including any commissions that they may have been due.
They said claims in respect of holiday pay, redundancy and pay in lieu of notice can be claimed from the Redundancy Payments Service and all staff have been provided with details of how to claim.
Staff that have been retained to oversee the wind-up of the business will be paid for the administration period.
Anyone who believes they haven’t been paid in full should contact the administrators on valeofmowbray.employees@frpadvisory.com
Vale of Mowbray, which is based in Leeming Bar near Northallerton, went into administration on Wednesday (September 28) after trading for more than two centuries.
It was founded as a brewery in 1795 before it switched to meat pie manufacturing in 1928.
The firm, which employed 219 people, established itself as the UK’s leading pork pie brand, but in a statement released on Thursday, officials said: “The business has experienced significant financial challenges in recent years due to rising raw material input prices, increasing energy costs and sector-wide recruitment challenges.”
Administrators are now winding up the business and moving towards an asset sale of its two freehold manufacturing sites in Leeming Bar, plant and machinery, as well as intellectual property.
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