Jobs lost as Hartlepool call centre closes without warning

Staff who arrived for work at Respondez's site at Sovereign Park in Brenda Road say they were told the centre was closing and its operations being transferred to a centre in Wolverhampton.

The compnay has told staff it is not in a pisition to pay redundancy.

Several members of staff contacted the Mail this morning.

Hayley Gibson said there were about 30 staff at the site: "We have come to work, these people have come in and we have got no jobs or money.

"We are due to be paid at the end of the month but they are not paying us for the work we have done."

She said staff had experienced difficulties last month, adding: "We had a problem with pay - it was not in on time.

"We had to kick off to get it."

Colleague Kathryn Ellison added: "We have been told we have got no jobs.

"All the calls are being diverted and the post was diverted yesterday, down to Wolverhampton. They are taking all the equipment out, to take it down to Wolverhampton.

"We have got no information."

Michael Ayre said the first staff knew about the closure was when they arrived to find a removal van outside the office.

"We have been told we have not got a job, they are not going to pay redundancy and we will have to claim it off the Government," he said.

Staff have been issued with letters from director Parmninder Nafir, confirming they have lost their jobs.

"The company does not have any finances to pay staff; any contractual pay outstanding will need to be requested via the Redundancy Payments Service of which you will shortly receive notification," it says.

The Mail has attempted to contact Respondez's parent company Whitestones Solutions Ltd, but without success.

Respondez's website still lists the firm's address as Hartlepool, but a call to the 0800 phone number listed was answered by a woman who confirmed she was based in Wolverhampton.