Fury as 350 jobs are axed at Ramage

Apr 17 2008 By George Topp

POLITICIANS are demanding a full investigation into why an award-winning haulier with a £30 million turnover has gone into administration, with the loss of 350 jobs.

Just three months after Princess Anne visited, the company directors of Glespin-based Ramage Group last Wednesday called in the administrators.

One of the first steps for joint administrators Blair Nimmo and Gary Fraser of KPMG Restructuring was to axe the company's 350-strong workforce, with 136 jobs going at Glespin, and the remainder from the company's depots in Aberdeen, Halbeath in Fife, Biggleswade in Bedfordshire, and Bristol.

Shocked employees were told last Wednesday afternoon to go home and not return.

Clydesdale MP David Mundell and his Holyrood colleague Karen Gillon have pledged to do all they can, and today (Thursday) were due to meet the administrators to see what can be done.

However, they are also hoping for answers to a growing list of questions over the recent management of the company.

The chairman and chief executive of Ramage, Neil Cunningham, told workers in a lengthy statement the company's demise had been due to a number of outside factors.

These included a vital computer system which was unable to cope with the work, loss of contracts, and a fuel supplier cutting the company's credit limits.

However, Ramage employees who contacted the Advertiser have been bitter about the way they have been treated. They have also questioned management of the company.

They claimed this week that many of the tractor and trailer units being used by Ramage were leased from another company.

Staff also say the company's computer system was unable to keep track of orders and trucks.

It was further suggested that Ramage lost major contracts with Your More Store, Toshiba and Quaker Oats, and a number of those remaining were either paying small amounts or loss-making.

Contracts with Bosch and Kraft foods were also being lost and there were question marks over new contracts with Internacionale, whose parent company is also facing possible administration.

Three years of losses for the company had been followed by a small profit last year - yet the firm had taken over another haulage firm.

Local employees are concerned about the financial impact on their families, with those contacting the Advertiser claiming they appeared to have little chance of receiving the cash they were due.

"We've been told we're getting no wages and any compensation we might get could take a year to come through. How am I to feed the family and pay the mortgage?" one disgruntled driver told the Advertiser.

"I'm not the only one here who is worried to death about our future," he added.

An insolvency specialist explained that while the axed workforce could claim redundancy through the government's Redundancy Employment Directorate, that would normally take six to eight weeks.

And, she added, they only paid up to about £380 per week. If a worker's pay was more, then the difference would have to come from the administrators.

The business could be in administration for up to one year, and there were no guarantees that there would be sufficient cash to pay creditors.