Dozens of warehouse workers have been facing a double blow of uncertainty after failing to be paid on time in the same week their employer entered administration. Around 40 warehouse staff and customer service advisors based in Greater Manchester are understood to have been affected after administrators were appointed at Shade Limited, which trades as Shade Station.
The online company is based at a warehouse in Heywood, near the border with Bury, and sells designer sunglasses and prescription glasses. It was taken over by Internet Fusion Group (IFG) last year, along with adventure sports brand Northcore, and in September 2021 Business Live reported that IFG had used a loan of £13.7 million to purchase the two businesses.
But less than 15 months on, administrators were appointed at both businesses on Wednesday (November 30), with the task of finding new buyers. It's understood workers at the Greater Manchester warehouse are usually paid on the first day of each month.
Yet staff were still waiting to be paid today (Friday) - leaving workers fearful ahead of the festive season and in the face of the cost of living crisis. One worker, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Manchester Evening News : "We were kicked out of work early on Wednesday and told to come in for a meeting the next day.
"We were told to come at 10am, then at 1pm. They said we were getting paid out wages but it didn't happen. I had an email from the administrators this morning, but it was pretty vague, just saying we will be paid soon.
"We are still employees. They expect us to come back to work next Tuesday, that the warehouse will be up and running. It's the wages we're more worried about.
"There were about 30 of us outside yesterday. We've got overdrafts that need paying, everybody is really upset. It's Christmas and we're in the middle of a cost of living crisis - and we don't know if we are getting our Christmas wage."
In a statement issued to the M.E.N. , Graham Bushby, Nick Edwards and Matthew Haw of RSM UK Restructuring Advisory LLP confirmed they had been appointed as joint administrators of Shade Limited and Northcore Limited on November 30, 2022. They say staff should be paid later today.
Matthew Haw, one of the joint administrators, added: "We want to assure the employees at Shade Station that they will receive their pay by close of play today, Friday, December 2."
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