Staff at Glasgow's Abandoned Ship bar will be closing with immediate effect with all current staff handed redundancy notices.
Workers were given redundancy notices by email with boss Phil Donaldson saying "extremely challenging trading conditions" were to blame just weeks after they were given reassurances that their jobs would be safe.
The closure comes just months after almost 80 workers submitted a collective grievance against the company with complaints ranging from sexual harassment and both health and safety and covid breaches through to tax and pension deductions not being passed onto HMRC and pension provider Nest.
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Macmerry 300 Ltd voluntarily wound up weeks after HMRC sought to shut down the company over what were understood to be six-figure tax debts. At the time, workers at the Mitchell Street bar were told that they would not be affected by major upsets in the business.
Trade union Unite has accused the company boss of "running roughshod over workers rights".
The union's hospitality organiser Bryan Simpson said: “Despite reassurances verbally and in writing that 'nothing is changing' for staff at Abandon Ship bars only 12 days ago, Phil Donaldson has just issued redundancy notices to all staff at both sites confirming to me that he has no intention of carrying out a genuine or meaningful consultation with those workers in accordance with well established employment law. This is a new low for a company and a former director who continues to run roughshod over the most basic of workers rights.”
Donaldson hired HR firm Dorothy McKinney to carry out an independent investigation into the working culture at Macmerry. He told the Daily Record that the investigation had concluded and declared that claims about the company's toxicity were "not upheld". However, he has refused to release the report, or any excerpts, as proof.
Donaldson also blamed ongoing press examination of his company's treatment of workers for the closures.
He said on Monday: "It’s a very sad day for myself and the team as we have put many years into building and creating this bar brand and those two sites. I am devastated for everyone who has been involved along the way and now for the staff that will be made redundant.
"Due to extremely challenging trading conditions we are no longer in a position to carry on trading at these two venues. Coming out of covid, the rise in commercial bills and product prices mixed with the constant barrage of negative press from the newspapers it has become impossible to carry on trading at these two sites.
"All the staff being made redundant have worked for Belford throughout their employment at the two sites. The sites will remain closed until a new tenant can be found."
When asked why staff had been told their jobs were safe only to be sacked less than two weeks later, he added: "In business, when the outgoings outweigh the incomings for too long something has to give. Sadly that has been the case at these two particular sites."
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