Staff 'blindsided' by closure of new Glasgow Virgin hotel

Protesters gathered outside the hotel following the loss of 130 jobs

Staff at a new hotel in Glasgow city centre said they were blindsided by its sudden closure, just four months after it opened.

The Virgin hotel on Clyde Street ceased trading on Tuesday with the loss of 130 jobs.

Workers will be paid up to the end of the month and will receive owed tips, overtime and holiday pay.

V Hotel Glasgow Limited also said it would continue to support staff with redundancy claims.

• More than 100 jobs lost as new Virgin hotel closes

The 240-room hotel on the banks of the River Clyde opened in August, offering guests the chance to "sample [Glasgow's] rich cultural heritage and warm hospitality".

But the building's owner Lloyds Developments Limited - which Virgin Hotels has a management contract with - was put into administration by its lenders on 1 December.

And as a result, the directors of V Hotel Glasgow Limited - the employer and operating company in respect of the hotel - were advised to place it into liquidation.

Staff at the hotel were informed following a meeting with the firm's chief executive on Tuesday.

Zornitsa Koleva says staff were not given any reassurances

Zornitsa Koleva, the hotel's executive housekeeper, said she was upset and disappointed.

She told BBC Scotland News: "We came to work like normal yesterday. I had my morning meeting with my team and allocated them their daily tasks as usual."

Ms Koleva said staff were then called to a meeting at 10:30 where they were told the hotel was closing immediately.

She added: "I'm responsible for a team of 28 people and I feel horrible because I'm not able to give them any reassurances.

"My family and my kids are very upset. How do you explain to them you don't have a job anymore?"

One of the hotel's chefs, who wished to remain anonymous, told BBC Scotland News he only joined a month ago and saw it as a secure job.

He added he would now need to rely on an overdraft and loans from friends and family to get him through the festive period.

Bryan Simpson, the lead organiser for Unite Hospitality, said it was "outrageous"

Bryan Simpson, the lead organiser for the Unite Hospitality union, said staff "got no notice at all".

He added: "Legally, when you terminate more than 100 workers, they must be given 45 days notice. They got zero notice."

Mr Simpson said the union was planning to take legal action which, if successful, would make the employer liable for up to three months wages.

He added: "What's been done to these workers has been completely outrageous. Not just six days before Christmas, but to be done to them without any clarity as to who the actual employer is.

"To have the CEO of a company as big, with the reputation that it does, flying in to tell them they're out of a job.

"Our message to Virgin Hotel and to the employer directly is clear. There is a moral duty here. There is a financial duty."

Natalya King, an ex-bar tender at the hotel, said she was in debt due to Covid

Natalya King was a bar tender across two bars at the hotel. She had worked there since it opened, but was hired by the hotel in April.

She said that when staff were told the news many had questions but the company didn't have answers.

Ms King added: "We don't know anything. We literally know nothing. We all thought we were going to come in and they were going to announce new owners.

"It's absolute carnage for my finances. Emotionally we were all a wreck. Everybody was crying. We asked if there was anybody that could support people."

She said one woman was so upset that a colleague had to physically hold her up.

Ms King said she was in debt due to Covid as she was a bar tender before the pandemic.

She added: "I've got cars to pay for, rent. I've got things that are going to come out of my account, no matter if there's money or not."

Sarah Cook, of FRP Advisory, has been instructed by the directors of V Hotel Glasgow Ltd to support the entry of the company into liquidation.

She said: "We know that this will be a very difficult time for employees, particularly so close to Christmas.

"Every effort has been made by the directors and by Virgin Hotels to find a way forward for the hotel in recent weeks, but this has unfortunately not been possible.

"The immediate closure of the hotel has, of course, resulted in the business no longer being financially viable and will therefore enter a liquidation process in the coming weeks."

She added all employees would be paid up to 31 December and supported in making any further claims to the Redundancy Payments Service.

On Tuesday a spokeswoman for Virgin Hotels said Virgin Group tried to find solutions, including offering to purchase the hotel to keep it open, but the lenders  didn't accept  its offers.

She added added the company was "very disappointed by this decision after the hard work everyone has put into the hotel and because of the impact it will have on the team that works there."