Sacked workers in fury over £100k in missing pensions

Apr 20 2008 By Kurt Bayer

Exclusive Taxpayers To Foot £100k Bill

WORKERS sacked by a bust engineering firm have discovered a £100,000 black hole in their pension fund.

Furious staff axed by Texol Technical Solutions in Dundee fear the payments meant for their Standard Life fund have disappeared.

Around 85 staff - who are demanding a police probe - have lost between £300 to £1500 each.

One said: "The employees who got the chop were called into a room and told that we were being made redundant, as of right then.

"It was an incredible shock. But then to discover our pension contributions are missing is the final straw."

A probe has been launched into the missing payments that were deducted from wages between last November and February this year.

The three directors in charge are still employed as managers in the firm that has taken over.

Now called Texol Ltd, it employs half the former workers. Taxpayers are now in line to pick up the bill for the missing pension funds.

Managing director Brian Frame, who lives in a £500,000 Perth home, remains in control.

Fellow directors Ray Millar and Ian Roger have also stayed in charge of the new firm based at Wester Gourdie.

One ex-worker said: "The Pensions Regulator has been notified and many of my colleagues have contacted Tayside Police wondering why this is not being investigated.

"It is the last kick in the teeth in what is an absolute scandal."

Many of those axed last month helped create Texol Technical Solutions in 1998 in a management buy-out using redundancy money from NCR.

One ex-worker invested £4000 in 1998 followed by £2000 when management considered floating the company.

The bitter worker said: "We have been absolutely shafted. The whole debacle could not have been handled any worse.

"The directors that put the company into administration are still there and we're left with nothing - not even what we are legally due. It's a bad joke."

Standard Life spokesman Paul Keeble said: "Texol Technical Solutions pension contributions stopped on November 1, 2007 and that between £85,000 and £90,000 has not been paid.

"The Pensions Regulator will now investigate the situation and will be in correspondence with the employees."

One of the workers at the company is missing Linda Hill, 41, from Monifieth, Angus.

The mum, who vanished from her seaside caravan home two weeks ago, had been depressed by all the redundancies at the company.

Lawyer Danny Devine, representing 37 of the workers, said: "We intend to proceed to employment tribunal."

A Tayside Police spokesman said: "We were made aware of concerns by certain individuals and they were advised to contact the company's liquidators."

Mr Frame said: "I would prefer not to comment. It is in the hands of the administrators."

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