Latest news with #redundancies
Telegraph
22-07-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Oil refinery to shut after runaway owners leave it in ‘untenable' position
A major British oil refinery is to shut after being left in an 'untenable' position by its runaway millionaire owners. Lindsey refinery, near Grimsby in Lincolnshire, is to be wound down after the Official Receiver was unable to find a suitable buyer. Workers have been told that redundancies are now 'inevitable'. Around 625 jobs will be lost from Prax and its parent company, State Oil. The future of the plant was thrown into doubt last month when it fell into administration and its owners vanished. Officials have been unable to trace the whereabouts of Sanjeev Soosaipillai or his wife, Arani Soosaipillai, who jointly owned the business until its collapse. Michael Shanks, the energy minister, said on Monday: 'We are deeply disappointed with the untenable position in which the owners left Prax Lindsey oil refinery.' He added that ministers 'strongly encourage the owners to do the decent thing and publicly commit to making a voluntary financial contribution to support workers'. The Soosaipillais paid themselves a £3.7m dividend in the year before the collapse, despite the company incurring $30m (£22m) of losses. Prax, which bought the refinery from French energy giant Total four years ago, owed £250m in taxes to HM Revenue & Customs when it became insolvent. Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, has demanded a full investigation into the collapse of Prax and the actions of its directors. The Lindsey refinery was responsible for supplying 10pc of British fuel, including some propellant bound for Heathrow Airport. Local petrol stations in the Lincolnshire area that rely on the Lindsey plant have been struggling to source alternative fuel, leaving some forecourts dry, the Telegraph has reported. Heathrow is understood to be unaffected. The refinery's collapse came months after Scotland's only oil refinery, Grangemouth, stopped processing crude oil amid surging energy costs and fears that a Labour crackdown on the North Sea would make it unviable. Sharon Graham, the general secretary of Unite, said: 'The Lindsey refinery is critical national infrastructure and is essential for the UK's fuel supply and the health of the regional economy. 'The Government needs to reverse the premature decision to stop buying crude oil and to extend the time to find a viable long-term solution for the site. 'Over a thousand workers rely on the future of the oil refinery, their jobs are now at immediate risk, through no fault of their own. If the Government fails to act then workers at Lindsey and much further afield will rightly, feel abandoned by it.'
The Guardian
21-07-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Prax Lindsey oil refinery to shut as government fails to find buyer
The Prax Lindsey oil refinery is to shut down after the government was unable to find a buyer for the stricken plant, workers have been told. In an email seen by the Guardian, staff at the refinery were told that the sales process that began after the business collapsed into administration last month 'has not brought forward an offer […] that is both feasible and deliverable'. 'As a result and regrettably, the decision has been made not to order any further crude to be processed at the refinery,' it said. 'The refinery will shortly need to moved into a wind-down phase, while also processing the remainder of the existing crude.' About 625 staff whose jobs were put at risk by the refinery's failure were told that it was now 'inevitable' that there would be further redundancies. Some staff have already lost their jobs, while 'special managers' from the consultancy FTI Consulting ran the plant during the search for a buyer. In the email to staff, the special managers said the process had led to 'various proposals' to buy parts of the Prax Lindsey operation, including storage, distribution and refining assets. They said talks would continue in the hope of maintaining some operations and jobs at Immingham, the Lincolnshire port where crude deliveries destined for the plant arrive. The Guardian approached the government and special managers for comment. More details soon …
BBC News
21-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Uni confirms Sunderland National Glass Centre redundancies
Up to 25 people will be made redundant when a glass centre closes next year, a university has redundancies at the National Glass Centre (NGC) were confirmed to union members and staff at a briefing session earlier this month, the University of Sunderland said.A spokesman said a formal consultation would begin next BBC understands there are currently no plans to transfer the roles to Glassworks, the new hub tasked with preserving the city's glass-making history. Sunderland Culture, which will run the site, has been approached for a facility is due to open in the former Peter Smith antiques warehouse in Sunniside in 2028. It is understood that the redundancy figure does not include staff working at the glass centre's cafe, who are not employed by the university."Earlier this month in a briefing session for staff and union representatives, the university confirmed existing roles that directly support the NGC will become redundant in July 2026, when the building closes," a university spokesman said."Staff were also provided with detailed information about the formal consultation process, which will begin next year and the support and development available for up to 25 affected employees." The National Glass Centre is due to close in July 2026 because of unaffordable repair estimates, ranging between £14m and £45m, have been disputed by critics amid an ongoing campaign to save the site. There have also been warnings that the city could lose its glass-making specialists in the period between the NGC's closure and Glassworks Culture has previously said there would be an alternative glass-making provision in the interim period, subject to funding being secured, with details yet to be confirmed. Follow BBC Sunderland on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
Daily Mail
18-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Commonwealth Bank sends jobs to India as it cuts hundreds of workers in Australia
Australia's biggest bank has sent 100 jobs to India after retrenching hundreds of local staff with a union accusing it of offshoring work for cheaper labour. The Commonwealth Bank last month told the Finance Sector Union that 304 Australians would be made redundant in technology and retail roles. This occurred as 110 jobs, affected by redundancies in Australia, were created at the Commonwealth Bank's Bangalore-based subsidiary, CBA India. These new jobs in India included job titles that had existed in Australia including staff data engineer, senior software engineers, staff software engineer, engineering manager, software engineer and senior data engineer. The Commonwealth Bank, Australia's biggest home lender, has more than doubled the number of staff in India in just two years. The Finance Sector Union's national secretary Julia Angrisano said the Commonwealth Bank had breached faith with its own staff by saying positions were redundant in Australia only to recreate them in India. 'By hiring for the same job, at their own Indian subsidiary, they're showing themselves to have breached the enterprise agreement and essentially lied to their workers,' she said. 'This is the very definition of bad faith. We have known for years that big banks have had a preference for work to be performed offshore. 'Yet we now have the proof that this is happening in real time. 'Our members are outraged by this kind of behaviour and seriously question CBA's commitment to Australian jobs.' The Commonwealth Bank's number of staff in India more than doubled in two years, growing from 2,854 employees in June 2022 to 5,630 by June 2024, its annual report said. Ms Angrisano argued this was about CBA benefiting from cheaper labour in India. 'We do not believe that the redundancies outlined in these change processes are in fact genuine redundancies and that in doing so, CBA has breached the terms of the agreement,' she said. 'These jobs are not required to be done in India; they're just moving the work there to take advantage of cheaper labour and further line their own pockets.' But a Commonwealth Bank spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia that CBA India was insourcing roles that had previously been done by a third party. 'During the formal consultation on recent workforce changes, the FSU did not raise any concerns with us about like-for-like job changes,' she said. 'We refute their claims and have met with the union this week to respond in detail and assure them that there is no basis to their allegations.' The Commonwealth Bank's chief executive Matt Comyn was last year paid $8.977million with bonuses. Specialist recruiter and career coach Tammie Ballis took aim at the big four bank for sending roles offshore. 'Are you telling me, Australia being the multicultural country that we are that they can't find someone that's living here that is bilingual with those skills?,' Ms Ballis said. 'Come on, not only that, if you have a look down here, this is their acknowledgement to country. Paying respect to our First Nations Australians. You're not for Australians.' During Question Time in Parliament, Senator Gerard Rennick of the Liberal National Party of Queensland pressed the Treasury on whether the government was aware of how much money is being sent offshore in wages. A senior Treasury official said they didn't have the answer right away and would get back to him later. 'It's not hard to see why Treasury took my question about the Free Trade Agreements with the Philippines and India on notice,' Senator Rennick said. 'It turns out that the Australian Government charges no taxes on wages paid by Australian companies to foreign workers in other countries who are effectively working remotely, taking Australian jobs. 'Not only are we losing jobs, we are losing the tax that those jobs would have paid while Australian corporations still get a tax deduction despite sending money offshore. 'This then means the remaining Australian workers have to pay higher taxes to make up the shortfall. This is selling Australia out plain and simple.' 'This is selling Australia out plain and simple. Furthermore, for those of you who think that working at home is a good thing be careful what you wish for. 'You might be replaced by a foreign worker.' He also pointed out that some workers are being brought in from other countries. 'For example, I've been told that there are people coming from the Philippines to build the transmission lines between Wagga and South Australia. 'Do we know how much money in remittances is getting sent offshore in terms of wages paid either for outsourcing or people coming onshore? Aussies unleashed about the increasing globalisation of the workforce. One said: 'Govt should make it illegal for big banks, those above a certain threshold/size, to offshore IT and call centre jobs, especially given their huge billion $ profits'. A second added: 'At the end of the day these companies are greedy af and don't care about the average Australian. It's why I will always choose family over work every chance I get bc they wouldn't care if I dropped dead over my desk.' A third said: 'I worked for Telstra and my job went to Philippines where wages were 1/4 of Australian. 'Lead to seven extra calls per complaint resolution and time factor extended from four days to 14 days.'
News.com.au
18-07-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
‘Lied to their workers': CBA's ‘shameful act' while sacking staff
The Commonwealth Bank has been accused of hiring around 100 roles in India just weeks after cutting more than 300 staff from its technology and retail sectors. In an explosive statement, the Finance Sector Union (FSU) said the bank had been 'caught' hiring a litany of roles at the Indian subsidiary in Bangalore just weeks after CBA announced 304 redundancies on June 10. The FSU said the roles being advertised by CBA India had the exact same job titles as those impacted by the redundancies. Finance Sector Union National Secretary Julia Angrisano said the move was in breach of CBA's Enterprise Agreement and that the bank had 'essentially lied to their workers'. 'We do not believe that the redundancies outlined in these change processes are in fact genuine redundancies and that in doing so, CBA has breached the terms of the Agreement,' Ms Angrisano said, pointing out that genuine redundancies mean the role is no longer required. 'This is the very definition of bad faith.' Ms Angrisano said CBA India's employee count had almost doubled in the last two years from 2854 to 5630. 'This is a shameful act from Australia's richest company,' Ms Angrisano said. 'All Australians are paying for the sham redundancy actions of the CBA. Not only are Australian workers being unfairly and reasonably sacked but this is being subsidised by all taxpayers. 'Bona fide redundancies are taxed concessionally in the hands of the workers. It is especially disgusting that the nation's richest company is also reducing the tax take as it makes the final payment to hundreds of Australians that we know are being sacked solely to have their work performed offshore.' has contacted CBA for comment. In March, CBA announced it would be cutting 164 jobs from its technology division before announcing more redundancies from the customer service department in May. Some of the job cuts hit staff at CBA-owned Bankwest, which is transitioning into a 'digital-only' bank. The cuts came despite the bank announcing a six per cent rise in cash profits to $2.6 billion in the March quarter. Commonwealth Bank boss Matt Comyn said in May the results reflected the bank's 'disciplined operational and strategic execution'. 'Our deliberate and long-term conservative approach to key balance sheet settings enables us to support our customers, the economy and our shareholders through a range of macroeconomic scenarios,' he said after the release of the March quarter results. 'We remain focused on supporting our customers, maintaining consistent and disciplined execution, investing in our franchise and generating sustainable returns for our shareholders.'
