Staff made redundant with ‘just 35 minutes notice’ at local factory

THE staff working at Bristol Soap Ltd in Atworth were given just 35 minutes’ notice that they were about to lose their jobs, when they were made redundant at the start of August, says one of the employees.

Bristol Soap was based in Atworth and manufactured washing detergents and alcoholic hand gels. A former employee told Melksham News that on the first Friday of August, staff were called for a meeting at 1.25pm and were informed the factory would be closing at 2pm with everyone losing their jobs.

The former employee said, “I went on holiday and when I came back in June, I noticed the area was looking a bit run down and we were running out of things. On the first Friday in August, one of the directors was in and seemed to be avoiding everyone. Then, they called for a meeting to tell us all that we were about to lose our jobs at 2pm. It was a real shock. We had no notice, no paperwork, no P45s. It was a shambles and about 12 to 15 staff were all put out of jobs with no notice.

“We were told the company was going to file for insolvency or bankruptcy. It was horrendous but you could tell something wasn’t right in the last couple of days.

“I’ve had my P45 now. Our wages run from Friday to Thursday and I am still owed wages for the week in hand plus any holiday. I know my colleagues are also still owed money. I have been lucky enough to find work elsewhere but it has been really stressful.”

A spokesperson for the Board of Directors at Bristol Soap Ltd said, “On Friday 4th August the Board of Directors having received professional advice made the very difficult decision to close Bristol Soap Ltd. This decision was made due to circumstances outside of the board’s control which meant that manufacturing at the site had to cease with immediate effect.”