Ex-staff 'owed thousands in wages' by hotel firm

Former workers at Wroxall Abbey Hotel, which closed suddenly, claim they are owed thousands of pounds in unpaid wages

Former workers at a four-star hotel which closed suddenly claim they are owed thousands of pounds in unpaid wages.

Wroxall Abbey Hotel in Warwickshire was operated by JGBM Hotel Limited until 21 January, when the building's owners terminated its lease and repossessed the estate.

Workers contacted the BBC before the closure and said they have had to "battle" to try to get their pay from a director of JGBM Hotel Limited, Paresh Thakkar.

Mr Thakkar denied not paying staff but admitted there were cash flow issues which had caused delayed payments.

In a statement, Mr Thakkar said: "Severe historical financial constraints that I inherited as owner of the hotel have continued to pose serious challenges to the business."

On its website before it was taken offline, Wroxall Abbey Hotel was portrayed as a "luxurious" hotel with 72 bedrooms and "the perfect location for any wedding".

Set in 27 acres (11 hectares) of land, "extensive conference facilities" were offered along with dining experiences including afternoon tea from £35 per person.

But former staff criticised what they described as the chaotic management of the hotel over the last year, with more than a dozen claiming they were still owed wages. For some employees, this was thousands of pounds.

Other allegations included inaccurate payslips not reflecting what hours the employees say they worked. Mr Thakkar denied that this was the case.

Mr Thakkar denied the majority of the allegations, but did say cash flow issues had caused delayed payments

Dale Povey worked there for a month as a receptionist from September and said she was owed about £250.

"I realised he wasn't going to pay any of us. It was a pattern," she told the BBC.

"It's not a lot, but it is for me," she said, adding she was only paid when a receptionist walked out and Mr Thakkar was "desperate".

"I need Paresh to pay people what they're owed and to stop taking advantage," she said.

Obafemi Olusanya, who said he was owed about £900-£1,000, told the BBC: "I feel it's not normal for somebody to use people like that, it doesn't make any sense to me."

Dale Povey said she only received some of her wages because Mr Thakkar was "desperate" after another receptionist walked out

Alan Collins worked at the hotel from July to November as a gardener and maintenance worker and claimed he was owed £2,800 in wages.

He said employee turnover was high: "People [were] coming and going. Every day there were different people coming.

"You notice over a week they'd be disappearing."

As a result of the payment delays, the father-of-three said he had no money at Christmas.

Obafemi Olusanya (left) and Alan Collins both said they were owed wages from Mr Thakkar

The former employees also made an array of allegations about how the site was run, including concerns there were no records or procedures for food allergens, fire evacuations, or legionella water supply testing.

Mr Thakkar denied this and said he could not produce documents for fire evacuation procedures, legionella testing and allergens as they were in the hotel and he no longer had access, after the termination of JGBM Hotel Limited's lease.

He said fire alarm tests were carried out on a monthly basis, but several members of staff the BBC spoke to said they had never heard a fire alarm test while working at the hotel.

On one occasion, employees say a flood caused there to be no hot water in the hotel, at a time when food was being served to customers at an event.

Mr Thakkar said this was not the case, as the dishwasher had its own hot water system, before saying that people were "just trying to make things up".

When asked by the BBC if allegations were true that bailiffs and contractors had been known to turn up at the hotel asking for money, Mr Thakkar said: "It's part of business."

The hotel's website said all pastries were freshly made, but Tesco scones were filmed by a member of kitchen staff and sent to the BBC

A member of kitchen staff also filmed Tesco own-brand food, including scones, being prepared for the hotel's afternoon tea which were then served to guests, when the website claimed all pastries were freshly made on a daily basis by the chef.

Mr Thakkar admitted that supermarket food was bought in cases where allergens were concerned, such as gluten-free scones, as it was not cost-effective to make them in-house - but the footage obtained by the BBC showed scones that were not gluten-free.

When asked about the Tesco food being bought for the afternoon teas, Mr Thakkar said: "That's not illegal, is it?"

Addressing the allegations overall, Mr Thakkar said he completely refuted them and that they had been made up by people he described as "disgruntled ex-employees" of the hotel. He denied any unfair or unethical treatment.

The hotel remains closed since the termination of JGBM Hotel Limited's lease, with the Wroxall Abbey Hotel website currently down "for maintenance".