Former Stewart Milne workers share £1m payout after collapse
The company was founded in 1975 by businessman and former Aberdeen FC chairman Stewart Milne.Starting out as a young electrician, he went on to dominate the construction business in the North East.
Mr Milne had postponed retirement in an attempt to secure a future for the firm.At the time, he said he was "devastated" by the collapse of the company and was "struggling to accept it".
Former employee Mr Brander, of Macduff, Aberdeenshire, was a painter and decorator with the Stewart Milne Group for 42 years.However everything changed when the company went into administration in January last year.Construction ground to a halt at sites across Scotland.Workers were given no notice and were told to apply for compensation from the UK government.
'I enjoyed my work'
"There was rumours that things weren't good," Mr Brander told BBC Scotland News."On Monday 8 January, we got a message round the site saying we had to be in the office."We were told we were being made redundant, get your own belongings, that was it, finished."I was sad because I enjoyed my work, I loved working for Stewart Milne, the people were ace. I was grateful it didn't happen before Christmas because we got our holiday pay."He has now received his compensation cheque and recently retired."I know it's money you're due, but it's appreciated. Fortunately it happened."He said others were "over the moon" to have "money in the bank".Asked how he now felt about what had happened last year, he said: "All good things come to an end."
Paul Kissen is an employment lawyer at Thompsons Solicitors who acted for the former employees.He said: "These workers were all dismissed without any consultation or any warning."After what has been a very hard-fought battle over the best part of 18 months, they have finally received in total about £1m, which is about £5,000 each, and they are all absolutely delighted."He added: "The mass claim is called a protective award and it's a type of group claim where 20 or more employees are dismissed as redundant by an employer and there's no consultation process."When a company has gone into administration or liquidation, the money is paid to everyone from the national insurance fund, from the redundancy payment service, so it's the same place that other payments that people get who are made redundant comes from - for example redundancy pay."There's just over 200 former employees involved in the claim, all of them have been successful in getting the protective award."Steven Dillon, from Unite the Union, said: "It's good they are getting what's due to them, unfortunately they should have got a lot more."Mr Milne declined to comment.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
26 minutes ago
- The Independent
The Asian rich list is a powerful rebuke to anti-immigrant rhetoric
When he was young, Surinder Arora took evening jobs to make ends meet. One of those stints was as a waiter at the Renaissance Hotel at Heathrow. Today, he owns the hotel and a host of others at airports and elsewhere. One of his current projects is the redevelopment of Luton Hoo as a luxury golf and health spa. Another, with the support of airlines and advice from Bechtel, the giant US construction and engineering company, is to build the third runway at Heathrow. Remarkable as it is, Arora's story typifies the members of this year's Asian Rich List. He is ranked 14th, with a fortune estimated at £1.4bn. While they are all different, what characterises many is a strong work ethic, coupled with relentless drive and determination to succeed. Published by Eastern Eye, the survey provides a fascinating insight into an increasingly powerful and significant cohort of UK society, responsible for generating billions of pounds in investment, donating heavily to charities and creating tens of thousands of jobs. The combined wealth of the 101 richest British Asians in the country is put at £126.26bn, an increase of £6.22bn from a year ago. The number of billionaires has risen from 16 to 17, while there are several hovering outside this top level. Arora is representative for another reason. Now 66, he is gradually handing over the reins of the family empire to his son, Sanjay. Says Eastern Eye: 'If there is a trend, it is that in many families, the second or, in some cases, the third generation, are either taking over or have already done so.' The first generation was schooled in what Gopi Hinduja, who heads the number one Hinduja dynasty with £34.5bn, likes to call UOL – the university of life. Their children and grandchildren have been educated at the best schools and universities in Britain and America. Having inherited the same ambition and hunger, they are putting that education to good use in expanding the family business. The old North of England adage of 'clogs to clogs in three generations' does not apply to them. Keeping it in the family and protecting the line, while broadening and diversifying the firm, is a central tenet. Like many others, the Hindujas have also focused on the future, investing in tech solutions to provide sustainable transport and manufacturing and clean energy supply. One foot forward, another strongly rooted is their mantra. Gopi, for instance, is inordinately proud of his grandson, aged five, who 'begins every morning with his prayers to the world'. Another theme, again exemplified by Arora and the Hindujas, is hotels. After eight years and at a cost of £1.2bn, the latter have transformed the former Old War Office Building in Whitehall into the 120-room, top-of-the-London market, Raffles Hotel, complete with nine restaurants. The site also encompasses 85 serviced apartments. The Hinduja Group, which covers a myriad of concerns, among them oil, motor manufacturing, tech and finance, is looking for other similar property and hospitality opportunities. Coming up fast in the chart is Sharan Pasricha. Currently 42nd and worth £450m, he saw that figure climb £50m in the past 12 months – this, while the rest of the UK was suffering from sluggish or next-to-zero growth. Pasricha is establishing himself as a force in global hospitality, via his Ennismore commercial vehicle. After completing his MBA at London Business School, he set out to disrupt the traditional international hotel industry. He bought The Hoxton, an underperforming hotel in London, in 2012, and is rolling out the Hoxton brand across the UK and overseas. Meanwhile, he purchased Gleneagles, the prestigious Scottish hotel and golfing complex and has completely refurbished the grand hotel and its sporting and leisure facilities. On he goes, partnering Accor, one of the world's biggest hospitality companies, and launching the sumptuous private members club, Maison Estelle, in Mayfair, followed soon after by Estelle Manor, the country house hotel in Oxfordshire, chosen by Apple heiress Eve Jobs for her recent wedding. One irony is that the stately homes of former aristocrats who prospered on the might of the British Empire, which of course owned vast swathes of Asia, are being sold to people who can trace their heritage to those former colonies. That historic connection is maintained by Nirmal Sethia, fourth richest at £6.7bn. The entrepreneur has interests in sugar refining, security printing, gold mining and investment banking. However, he is best known for his devotion to tea, once an imperial preserve of British planters, and for founding Newby Teas, which he hails as 'the world's finest tea company'. Ominously for the Labour government, Sethia, who has a house in London, mostly divides his time these days between Dubai and Kolkata. He is thought to be one of the non-doms unimpressed by Rachel Reeves's first Budget and her proposed removal of the preferential tax status for wealthy foreigners. While Sethia's UK tax payments may be relatively small, there is no doubting his monetary contribution by other means. Through his N Sethia Foundation, he has given close to £1bn to a variety of good causes, many of them in the UK. He was one of the first to offer financial assistance to victims of the Grenfell fire and he is a major backer of the newly revamped Museum of London. Philanthropy is a common thread. Cyrus and Priya Vandrevala are ninth, with £2.5bn, but it is their success in impact investing and mental health from the Vandrevala Foundation that sets this well-connected duo apart. They are also passionate about the environment and are patrons of Elephant Family, the charity dedicated to saving Asian elephants from extinction. Their involvement arose through their friendship with the late Mark Shand, brother of Queen Camilla. One power couple that needs little introduction is Akshata Murty and her husband, Rishi Sunak. The former prime minister and his wife experienced a whopping £200m increase in their paper fortune, put at £920m, most from her stake in her father's flourishing Infosys tech operation. Still only 45, no former PM has ever been as wealthy as Sunak. Despite this and hardening ties with Goldman Sachs, his first employer after he graduated from Oxford, he remains a backbench MP and insists he is not going anywhere. 'I am happy to confirm that I will now be spending more time in the greatest place on earth, where the scenery is worthy of a movie set and everyone is a character,' he said of his North Yorkshire constituency, while leading the Opposition response to that Labour Budget. Against the present backdrop of protests against immigration, the Asian Rich List illustrates that the UK has so much to be thankful for. It is hard to imagine where the economy, wider society, would be without the loyalty, tenacity and public spirit of those on the list and the ones ascending fast. We urgently need more like them, not less.
Telegraph
26 minutes ago
- Telegraph
How Rachel Reeves created a generation of accidental pension millionaires
Are you planning to contribute sums to your children or grandchildren's pensions? Get in touch at: money@ Young people are poised to inherit a colossal windfall from their parents and grandparents. Baby boomers – born between 1946 and 1964 – are expected to pass at least £5.5tn of wealth to younger generations by 2047, more than double Britain's GDP. This 'great wealth transfer' is already well under way. The inheritances of Generation Z and millennials – born between 1980 and 2009 – have almost doubled in value every 20 years since 1979, according to a report by think tank Demos. But now an inheritance tax squeeze is prompting many of the boomer generation to employ new strategies to help their descendants. Paying money directly into their retirement pots is one way to beat the taxman – and could create a lucky generation of pension millionaires. 'Significant windfall' In her Budget last year, Rachel Reeves announced that unspent private pensions will be liable for inheritance tax from April 2027. The move has prompted many boomers to raid their pension pots and give away their wealth in order to avoid a potential 40pc tax hit for their family. Inheritance tax rules mean unlimited amounts of money and assets can be gifted to friends and relatives without them paying any eventual inheritance tax, as long as the transfer happens at least seven years before the person giving the gift dies. A so-called taper tax rate of between 8pc and 32pc is applied to gifts given between seven and three years before death, once the total value of gifts made in the seven years before a person dies exceeds the £325,000 tax-free threshold. Money given less than three years before is taxed at the full inheritance tax rate of 40pc. Giving away cash to help children and grandchildren get on to the housing ladder is becoming increasingly popular. Over half (52pc) of first-time buyers received financial help from family members last year, with an average sum of £55,572, according to estate agents Savills. The total value of Bank of Mum and Dad assistance has reached £38.5bn since 2021, 71pc more than in the previous four years. However, one overlooked option is for 'surplus income' to be paid into a young family member's pension. Under current rules, a parent or grandparent can contribute up to £2,880 a year into a child's pension. A pension contribution at this level is topped up by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) to £3,600, as basic rate income tax is claimed back on the payment, with any gains shielded from tax. If these gifts are made regularly – and do not affect the giver's standard of living – then the money is automatically exempt from inheritance tax, and the seven-year rule does not apply. Paying into adult children's pensions is also possible, although they would not benefit from tax relief. Transferring even relatively modest amounts in this way could turn younger generations into future millionaires, according to accountancy firm RSM. The firm calculates that contributing the £2,880 maximum each year would give a grandchild a pension pot of £105,000 by the time they turn 23, assuming 4pc annual growth. Even if they don't save another penny, the pot would likely be worth over £607,000 by age 67. Annual returns of 5pc would boost this to over £1m. Chris Etherington, of RSM, says: 'There will usually be an upfront income tax cost to consider for anyone withdrawing sums from their pension. That should also be taken into account when determining the best course of action and the overall potential benefits. 'However, many may consider it makes sense to incur an upfront income tax liability so they can make gifts earlier and in turn, secure the financial future of generations to come while also reducing their inheritance tax exposure.' Ian Cook, of wealth management firm Quilter Cheviot, says decades of investment growth mean beneficiaries could net a 'substantial sum' by the time they come to retire. He added: 'Contributing to a child or grandchild's pension can be a smart way to pass on wealth without triggering an immediate inheritance tax bill. 'For some families, pensions are also appealing because the funds are locked away until at least the normal minimum pension age, currently 55, but rising to 57 in 2028. 'This avoids the concern that can come with gifting large sums into a junior Isa, where the recipient gains full control at 18, an age at which not everyone is ready to handle a significant windfall.' Growing wealth divide This strategy could prove to be a lifeline for the young people fortunate enough to inherit wealth. Experts have warned that Britain faces a 'pension savings crisis', as the current 8pc minimum contribution level is not enough to fund adequate retirements. Under auto-enrolment rules, employees put at least 5pc of their salaries into a pension, in addition to a minimum 3pc employer contribution and government tax relief. Labour has committed to not changing these rates during this Parliament. On current contribution rates, an average earner on a £35,000 salary risks falling £700,000 short of a 'comfortable' living standard in retirement, according to the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association, a trade body. Boomers – on average – have it better. Some are lucky enough to enjoy lucrative 'defined benefit' pensions which guarantee an inflation-linked income in retirement, based on final or average salary. These schemes are close to extinction in the private sector, as they have become too expensive for employers to maintain. They have been replaced by much less generous 'defined contribution' schemes, where the final value depends on how well investments perform. It's easy to see why many younger people see owning a nice house or having a good pension as impossible – unless they inherit it. Differences in pension wealth and the swelling value of homes have widened the generational wealth gap over the last 20 years. A study by the Resolution Foundation think tank found that between 2006-08 and 2018-20, median wealth among Britons in their 60s rose by 55pc in real terms, but for those in their 30s, it fell by 34pc. At the same time, the share of Britain's wealth held by the under-40s has fallen from 7.5pc in 2010 to 4pc today. Molly Bloome, of the Resolution Foundation, warns that younger generations are becoming more reliant on financial gifts, and that this form of trickle-down economics will only widen the generational wealth gap. 'There's a big element of luck at play – you can't choose who your parents are, and having wealthier parents obviously puts you in a much better position, especially if they own their own home.' But there is an implicit obligation attached to these transfers, she adds. 'It's a case of, 'Help me on to the housing ladder, then I'll help you pay for care in old age'. It's not just a one-way street.'
Telegraph
26 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Unemployed to get AI chatbot for filling out ‘boring' job applications
Unemployed people will be given an AI chatbot to help them fill out job applications as part of a government scheme to help Britons cut down on 'boring life admin'. The Government will next week unveil plans to develop an 'AI helper' that will help people apply for work – a move that critics warned could mean employers are flooded with irrelevant job applications. The scheme comes amid a surge in working-age Britons on jobless benefits and a slump in entry-level roles. Official data published this week showed that 3.7 million Britons are now claiming Universal Credit with no work requirements – a rise of more than a million since Labour came to power. On Monday the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology will issue a notice inviting AI companies to help develop an 'agent' that can fill in forms, complete job applications and register patients at doctors' surgeries. While existing chatbots such as ChatGPT are best known for answering questions, AI agents are capable of handling tasks such as booking flights and sending emails as well as answering questions. The Government's AI agent is expected to be in use in 2027. It could also be used to help people update addresses on driving licences and register to vote. Doing so would only require a short prompt, rather than filling in multiple pages of forms. Officials said the initiative was designed to 'save people time and modernise the state'. However, it comes as employers are grappling with a deluge of job applications as AI tools mean candidates can instantly generate CVs and cover letters tailored to job descriptions. A study by recruitment website Totaljobs released on Friday found that recruiters are drowning in CVs, with almost three quarters saying they were being inundated with irrelevant applications. Claire McCartney, of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, said: 'When used appropriately, AI tools can be a useful aid for jobseekers.' However, she added: 'If candidates heavily rely on or misuse AI tools, it could mean that they're unsuitable for the roles they've applied for.' She said a quarter of firms were attempting to reduce or monitor the use of AI by applicants. Neil Carberry, the chief executive of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, said: 'If you are advertising a job you will get hundreds more CVs than a few years ago and a large number will demonstrate they haven't really thought about the job. 'They have done 50 applications in a couple of days where previously they'd have done 10 good ones.' AI tools such as ChatGPT have been blamed for a decline in graduate opportunities, but Rachel Reeves has also been criticised for hitting the jobs market with record-breaking tax rises.
