Coronavirus: Arlington Automotive Group workers miss out on redundancy deal

Martin Hindle has worked at the plant for 30 years and worries he will lose £60,000

Employees at a car parts plant say they will lose thousands from their redundancy deal after the firm went into administration.

Martin Hindle, 54, worked at Arlington Automotive Group for 30 years and was promised £74,000 in a redundancy deal. He now estimates he will get £14,000.

The firm previously agreed a £1m package for workers, most of whom are disabled.

The group said it was working with staff to help them sort settlements.

After 31 years working in Coventry, Jonathan Peasley, who has severe epilepsy, has also been made redundant.

Jonathan Peasley is a warehouse operative in Coventry and started his career more than 30 years ago

"Suddenly being jobless is hard to take," he said. "It was part of my life, I was used to the routine."

Arlington Automotive Group employs about 600 people at sites in Coventry, Newton Aycliffe, Reading, Stourport, Birmingham, Derby and Manchester.

Its West Midlands sites mainly employ disabled workers after it took over Remploy factories following the loss of government funding in 2013.

Arlington Automotive Group went into administration as car sales fell due to coronavirus

Mr Hindle, who worked at the Birmingham site, said many of the firm's disabled employees "will never work again".

"They were planning the rest of their lives based on this redundancy money and now they can't afford it."

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Birmingham's site manager Adam McKeown said he is "absolutely furious".

"I'm so disappointed in the company that promised to maintain the ethos of Remploy," he said.

"The majority of employees will now be reliant on benefits for the rest of their lives and the company doesn't care."

Arlington Automotive Group supplies car makers such as JLR, Ford and Nissan

The coronavirus outbreak saw a drop in new cars being bought which had a knock-on impact on the manufacturer, which supplies car makers such as JLR, Ford and Nissan.

It was placed in administration by Duff and Phelps earlier in May after redundancy packages had been agreed in February.

A spokesperson said the company could not sustain the package since becoming insolvent but it was supporting employees' claims to the government's Redundancy Payments Service.

It was also supporting claims to administrators for the difference between what employees agreed to in their packages.

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