Debenhams: Swansea worker made redundant by conference call after 28 years

When Tina Hardwicke got a Christmas temping job at Swansea's Debenhams in 1992 she was "proud to get in" at a big-name store.

It was the beginning of a 28-year career where she went on to become a supervisor and store trainer.

But last May the 53-year-old was made redundant and now feels "let down" by the way the company handled it.

Debenhams said it "deeply regrets" the job losses.

Tina had been off work to look after her terminally ill husband Stephen, before his death from cancer in April 2020, aged 56.

She had not yet returned to work when a few weeks later she received a text telling her to join a conference call.

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"They read the script to say that whoever was on that conference call, your job was gone," Tina said.

"And that was the only communication I had with Debenhams.

"I felt very let down because obviously I was at home, and just very newly bereaved anyway.

"But the fact that I'd been loyal for 28 years and a lot of the staff that have gone were long-standing staff... you know, I didn't even get a phone call, a card or anything to say sorry that your husband died.

"So then to just be rang and told you're redundant as well, it just seemed very unfair how they treated staff."

Tina Hardwicke's husband Stephen died from cancer shortly before she was made redundant

Debenhams went into liquidation in December.

A spokesman said: "Before temporarily reopening stores last summer, Debenhams had to make some very difficult decisions whilst in administration to try and give the remaining business the best possible chance of a viable future.

"Sadly, this resulted in store closures and job losses in certain functions.

"We deeply regret that circumstances forced us to commence this course of action and it is in no way a reflection of the commitment and professionalism of our colleagues.

"Unfortunately, communicating to large numbers of affected colleagues during the lockdown made face-to-face meetings impossible and hence communication had to be via group calls."

Internet retailer Boohoo has bought the Debenhams brand for online sales but the shops will soon close for good.

There were big queues when they reopened last week for closing down sales.

The Swansea store will close in May

Permanent closures will begin on 2 May and all its stores are expected to close by 15 May.

Tina accuses Debenhams of failing to take on the "responsibility" of redundancy payments.

She said: "Debenhams, although they still traded online when they were in lockdown, and they've still reopened 92 stores now, they didn't pay a penny of any of the redundancy, or of the notice period to the staff, the government had to pay it.

"I just felt that they'd sort of cheated the taxpayer really."

Debenhams said this was "normal" during administration.

A spokesman said: "Colleagues claimed their statutory redundancy entitlement from the redundancy payment service, given the legal restrictions that prevent these payments being made by the company."

Tina tried to claim a "protective award" which can be due to staff who are made redundant without proper consultation.

That is worth eight weeks' pay.

She has been told by an employment tribunal that because Debenhams is in dissolution, "legal proceedings cannot be continued against it without it being restored to the register of companies."

Shop workers' union Usdaw said it was continuing to pursue a protective award claim through the employment tribunal on behalf of its members who worked at Debenhams.

Tina now has a part-time job at Hotel Chocolat and feels "very lucky" to have got it.

She was told there were more than 250 applicants.

You can see more on this story on Wales Live at 22:35 BST on Tuesday 20 April on BBC One Wales, and on the BBC iPlayer