“Scary” and “gobsmacked” were among words used by redundant employees of Stewart Milne Group (SMG) to describe their reaction to losing their jobs.
About 50 of them attended a meeting in the Beach Ballroom in Aberdeen today.
Officials from Unite the Union were on hand to explain what happens now.
Some of it, such as redundancy pay, is defined by statute.
But the ex-SMG workers are also being encouraged to claim protective awards.
Unite has claimed SMG failed to properly consult workers about the redundancies.
Where firms fail to follow the correct process, employment tribunals can make “protective” awards worth from 45 days to 90 days of full pay.
SMG had its headquarters in Westhill, Aberdeenshire.
The mostly male gathering at today’s meeting represented different age groups, from people who were not long into their careers at SMG to those with decades of work for the construction firm behind them.
Unusually in redundancy situations, no-one had a bad word to say about their former bosses.
One ex-worker said the business felt like family.
Even so, the company’s collapse into administration last Monday, with 217 jobs axed and 112 retained as SMG operations are wound down, came like a bolt out of the blue.
Scott Geddes, 30, of Aberdeen, worked for the firm in two phases totalling nine years.
The bricklayer said he’d noticed SMG projects “slowing down” but assumed it was just the normal slackening off seen around this time of year.
He learned his fate, like most of the rest of the Aberdeenshire firm’s workforce, in a Teams call.
He told The Press and Journal his immediate reaction was one of “panic”.
Although he has no dependents, the household bills keep coming and it may be up to six weeks before he has any redundancy pay coming in.
He was in the middle of selling his home when the devastating news came.
“It’s scary,” he said, adding:”Without a job it’s a struggle.”
He said he’d already been offered new work and was, in the meantime, relying on family members for support.
Like others who attended the meeting, Mr Geddes has moved quickly to secure a new job but others are not so lucky. “There’s not really a lot of work out there just now,” he added.
A free event to support those affected by the closure of #StewartMilne is taking place this Thursday at the Beach Ballroom in #Aberdeen . There will be support and advice from a number of organisations as well as employers with vacancies. https://t.co/9ChgUgK5A5 pic.twitter.com/eoPGlBW5St
— Skills Development Scotland (@skillsdevscot) January 15, 2024
Derek Melvin, 63, is fortunate enough to have paid off his mortgage but is not ready to retire.
“I can’t afford to,” the joiner said, adding: “I reduced my hours two or three years ago but still worked four days a week.”
Mr Melvin, who lives in Durres, near Banchory, clocked up 27 years at SMG.
He worked for the firm four times but it all came to a crashing end last Monday.
While other employees found out about the company’s demise around 3.30pm, others learned the bad news through a second Teams call or via text messages between them.
It was 5.30pm by the time Mr Melvin found out he and nearly everyone else employed by SMG were out of work.
He added: “We were told we would get letters throught the post and that was the end of it.
“We’d known something was going on – there were no new sites starting.
It was quite a shock the way it happened. We didn’t expect to be told we were out of work.”
Derek Melvin, ex-Stewart Milne Group worker.
“But in a newsletter that came out in December, they’d told us all how well the company was doing and that it had gone back to making a profit.”
“It was quite a shock the way it happened. We didn’t expect to be told we were out of work.”
Mr Melvin said he had some work lined up for this summer, with other new roles with local businesses on Royal Deeside in the pipeline.
‘We thought our jobs were safe’
James Brander, 64, of Macduff, was edging closer to retirement when he lost his job.
He’d worked as a painter and decorator for the company for more than four decades.
His job took him to housing developments all over the north-east.
He’d noticed work coming to a standstill on an affordable homes project in Cove, Aberdeen.
But last Monday’s news was still unexpected, he said, adding: “We thought our jobs were safe.”
Mr Brander said it was a “disappointing” end to SMG.
But he also paid tribute to its founder and owner, Stewart Milne.
“I did some work on his own home,” he said, adding: “He knew everything about me. A great man.”
Norman Simpson, 55, started out as a bricklayer and went on to become a site supervisor.”
He worked for the firm for 35 years. “Everybody knew everybody,” he said, adding: “It was like working for a big family.
“I knew they’d been struggling for the past two of three years but just didn’t see the hammer falling.
“I was gobsmacked when it happened.”
Mr Simpson, who lives near Huntly with his wife and two grown-up children, said he was “going to survive it” financially.
Other workers, particularly those with young families, will be harder hit, he added.
‘Sheer distress and anxiety’
Unite industrial officer John Clark said: “The meeting in Aberdeen… brought home the sheer distress and anxiety which the Stewart Milne group workers are facing. From paying mortgages and the rent to paying for the weekly shop, the workers need to make life-changing decisions on a daily basis about what they can and can’t afford.
“Unite is supporting the workers in every way possible with legal support and we reiterate our request that the public sector step in where they can to offer alternative employment as a matter of urgency.”
Read more: All our stories on the collapse of Stewart Milne Group
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