A Leeds woman has been left angry and hurt after a Yorkshire-based telesales company shut down overnight.
As many as 450 people have lost their jobs after Harrogate telemarketing company Amvoc closed suddenly, leaving employees devastated today (Wednesday, March 15).
Staff received an email late last night from the CEO Damian Brockway which informed then that the company's offices in Harrogate, Leeds and Manchester would close immediately.
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The cause of the closure was said to be due to "Covid debts" according to the email. The devastating news came as a shock to many, especially after the company recently hired a group of new employees, including one woman who worked there for just two days.
The employee, who wished to remain anonymous, said she only started her role earlier this week and, like others, found out her job had disappeared after arriving at the office. Speaking with LeedsLive the woman expressed her fury and upset over the news.
She said: "The email was sent at 10pm last night.
"People start coming in to work at around 8.30pm, so many didn’t see it as they were already asleep and turned up to work as usual only to find the building locked with a notice on the door.
"There was no indication that the business was about to close
"I had no idea about the closure until I was literally at the door. There was a large amount of staff gathered outside who had either not received the email or hadn’t seen it, and quite a few seemed to have suspected it was some sort of practical joke and came anyways because of how abrupt the closure was.
"I’m absolutely furious as I imagine everyone else is, I turned down multiple other jobs for this, this has left me unable to pay my rent for next month and will leave me in arrears with my bills too."
The email, seen by LeedsLive , said: “We have appointed administrators with immediate effect who will now be responsible for paying wages this week and all outstanding bonuses.
“I am gutted. Words fail me.
“Unfortunately our covid debts were too high and repayments not high enough. We have been issued with immediate request to pay all outstanding within seven days which is impossible.
“I cannot tell you how upset this makes me.”
A notice was placed on the Leeds office window informing employees that the company had ceased trading. It read: "It is with deep regret that as of March 14 2023 A Marketing Vocation Ltd has ceased trading.
"Due to the struggling economy, issues caused by covid and unprecedented changes in the market the business has had no option but to close.
"We would like to thank all our staff, clients and suppliers who have worked tirelessly with us for many happy and successful past years."
The company was first set up in 2010 from a small office in Dacre. It opened a new head office in Harrogate in 2015, the Leeds office in 2018 and an office in Manchester last year, there were plans to open a London office.
LeedsLive contacted Amvoc for comment.
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