About 200 workers from the troubled property services group Connaught have been sacked after being told to phone the firm's administrators, union officials have said. Employees at Connaught's housing services in Sefton, Merseyside, were left messages asking them to contact KPMG, and were then told over the phone that they had lost their jobs.
KPMG confirmed that 700 redundancies had been made across the UK, with 200 of those in Sefton. The cuts were made after a commercial review, but KPMG said it could not give further details on where staff were based due to their 'mobile nature'. Brian Green from KPMG said: 'While the administrators made every effort to communicate with staff in person, the large number of staff and wide geographic spread across the country necessitated a series of telephone calls to ensure staff were informed of redundancies as soon as possible.'
Jim Woods from the construction union Ucatt described the situation as 'an absolute disgrace' and said workers were 'fuming'. He added: 'Why should workers be told in this way? They should be called KGB not KPMG for the way they have conducted themselves.' About 100 workers gathered outside the Connaught building in Kirkdale in protest.
Jimmy O'Malley, a 33-year-old joiner, said he was 'totally shocked' by the manner in which they were told. 'I called the number I was given and it was an open conference call. It was a surreal, weird situation. Every other message we've had has been delivered in a calm, professional manner. People should be treated with dignity and respect - not like that.'
The job losses came as construction group Morgan Sindall announced it had bought the majority of Connaught's social housing division, transferring 2,500 of the 4,400 UK workforce to its business. KPMG said it was continuing to negotiate with other companies to take over contracts and hoped further staff would be transferred to alternative providers. Ucatt is calling for One Vision Houses, which owns the properties Connaught maintained, to take on the workers.
