Sacked and left stranded: phone book staff called to HQ, fired and told to hand over company cars

• People drove across country to be made redundant as company had gone into administration
• Parents were told to remove child equipment before handing over company cars as well as company mobile phones
• They were left to return home on public transport to places such as Devon, Leeds, Manchester and North Wales

Hundreds of workers were left stranded and in tears yesterday after they were called to their company head office, unexpectedly made redundant and then told they could not use their company cars to get home.
Sales representatives for telephone directory Thomson Local received a mysterious email late on Tuesday afternoon ordering them to attend a meeting at head office at noon yesterday.
They drove from across the country to Farnborough, Hampshire, where they were ushered into two rooms – and half were told they had lost their jobs because the company had gone into administration.

Account representative Jocelyn Green, 57, from Chelmsford, Essex, pictured left, is worried about paying her mortgage,  while Emma Foulds, 23, from Bath, right, said there had been no warning of the job losses

About 200 workers were made redundant. Some had worked for the firm for 27 years.
Parents were told to remove child equipment before handing over company cars as well as company mobile phones, leaving them stranded and unable to contact friends and relatives.
They were left to return home on public transport to places such as Devon, Leeds, Manchester and North Wales.

 

Emma Foulds, 23, from Bath, said there had been no warning of the job losses. She said: ‘We knew that the company was up for sale, so people thought the meeting was because we had new owners who wanted to introduce themselves.
‘But as soon as we walked into the room there was no senior management and people we did not recognise, [the] administrators.’
Miss Foulds said: ‘People started crying, there are a lot of pregnant people who are not going to get maternity leave, pensions may have gone. It is disgusting how they have dealt with it.’

Employees drove from across the country to the office in Farnborough, Hampshire, pictured, where they were ushered into two rooms and half were told they had lost their jobs

Account representative Jocelyn Green, 56, feared not being able to pay her mortgage. Miss Green, from Chelmsford, Essex, sold advertising in the directories and online, earning £40,000 a year. She said: ‘I have worked for Thomson since July 1986 and have worked tirelessly for them.
‘I have been noticed as one of the top three reps in the country, never missing a sale or a target. When I got the email I thought it could be a buyout, but this is crazy.
‘To travel 86 miles to get here and be told: “Sorry, you don’t have a job” is a terrible way to be treated.
‘I was crying my eyes out in the meeting. People were shouting, accusing the company of having played us like a fiddle.
‘It’s diabolical. I am distraught and have lost everything. I gave the company the best years of my life.’
Single mother-of-three Rachel Cooper, 37, from Swindon, Wiltshire, said: ‘I’m terrified about how I will keep a roof over all our heads now. Thomson have screwed us all over. I was successful in my last job and Thomson approached me in November and April.’
Thomson Directories is the UK subsidiary of Italian telephone directory publisher Seat Pagine Gialle and has been making phone books in this country for 30 years.
Some 174 editions are produced annually and delivered to 22million homes and businesses.
Last night there was no one available for comment at Thomson Local, Seat Pagine Gialle or the administrators Grant Thornton.