F&I Management & Training

Administrators for Richard Alexander Group told 40 staff from its former Otley site they are redundant.

They also gave the grim news that they would not be paid their November wages.

AM reported last week that Sytner bought the dealer group from the administrators, but the deal did not include one VW dealership at Otley, which Richard Alexander Group had closed two weeks previously, saying it was relocating to Menston.

One former technician told a local newspaper: "We’ve been treated appallingly. I don’t think the Menston site was ever in the mix yet they’ve kept us working, sending us to other sites, when they must have known they couldn’t pay us.

“They’re saying we can claim back some compensation from the government but it’s capped at £330 a week. I won’t be getting my full salary back.”

 Richard Alexander Group's managing director, Richard Smith, has not joined Sytner, as previously reported.

DATED: 10.12.08

FEED: AM