Double whammy as City Link staff face new year redundancies

After being branded “disgraceful” for announcing on Christmas Day that almost 3,000 workers at City Link would face redundancy, the administrators of the parcel delivery company have today been forced to confirm 2,356 redundancies at the end of the festive period.

Admistrators spent the day attempting to secure a bid for a takeover deal, which ultimately failed.

Only 371 staff were retained in order to process the remaining parcels and wind down the operations of the company.

The RMT union demanded “urgent talks” with Business Secretary Vince Cable after the company’s “substantial losses” over several years were disclosed.

‘Stinks to high heaven’

The union said it had been told on Christmas Eve the company was in administration, and that the timing of the announcement “stinks to high heaven”.

Mick Cash, General Secretary of the RMT, said of the Christmas Day annoucement: “Not only was it the most brutal and callous way to treat nearly 3,000 staff, but RMT believes there may have been more cynical motives behind it which we want the government to investigate.”

“The disgraceful timing of the City Link announcement at the start of the festive season must not be allowed to delay and hamper efforts to rescue the jobs.”

The courier group was bought by venture capitalist Jon Moulton in April 2013 for £1 from previous owner the pest control firm Rentokil.