Forty-six former members of staff at Harrogate firm CNG have won an employment tribunal against the failed company worth about £210,000.

The ex-colleagues claimed CNG didn’t follow the correct redundancy procedures when the firm went into administration last year.

A tribunal in Leeds agreed with their claim, brought by solicitor Nuala Toner, and awarded them 90 days’ pay as compensation.

However, each claimant’s award was capped at eight weeks and a maximum of £571 a week. It means the total sum awarded to the group as a whole is about £210,000.

Any remaining sum owed can be claimed in the insolvency process, although whether any funds will be left when all creditors are paid remains to be seen.

The compensation will be paid by the government’s Redundancy Payment Service because CNG is in administration.

Read more:

• CNG building in Harrogate goes back on the market
• Administrators reveal state of Harrogate firm CNG’s finances

The claim, heard last month, was not contested by the administrators of CNG.

CNG ceased trading last year due to spiralling wholesale gas and electricity prices.

Nuala Toner

Ms Toner told the Stray Ferret:

“As early as August 2021, draft management accounts showed CNG had significant financial difficulties and by October 2021 it was accepted CNG was no longer sustainable. Despite this no steps were taken to commence consultation until November 2021, by which point any consultation was pointless.

“When mass redundancies are made, consultation must be meaningful and must be undertaken with a view to reducing the number of redundancies or mitigating the effects of the dismissals. By failing to undertake proper consultation in good time, the employees were denied the opportunity to mitigate the effects of the dismissals.”