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Missguided collapse: Staff muted and sacked on pre-recorded conference call lasting just minutes

Axed employees likened the treatment to P&O Ferries’ widely condemned mass-redundancy announcement but said 'at least they got a video'

Failed fashion retailer Missguided told staff they had been made redundant via a pre-recorded audio message during a phone conference where laid-off employees were automatically muted, it has emerged.

The online retailer collapsed on Monday after failing to find a buyer, days after i revealed the Manchester-based firm owed suppliers millions of pounds.

Administrators Teneo announced the company’s demise, blaming increased supply chain costs, general inflation and weakened consumer confidence. On Tuesday, security guards were stationed at the gates of Missguided’s headquarters to prevent axed staff from returning, company sources said.

Initially, it was understood that all Missguided staff learned the company had entered administration and many of their jobs were likely to be axed via one group call.

However, i has discovered that, unbeknown to staff, two conference calls took place simultaneously. One was for people whose jobs were safe and the other was for those who had been laid off.

In an echo of P&O Ferries’ widely condemned mass-redundancy video message to axed employees earlier this year, about 80 Missguided staff who dialled in to the latter conference were automatically muted and informed via a pre-recorded message that they had been made redundant, two company sources told i.

Some individuals on holiday only learned via their colleagues or social media that they were out of a job, it is understood.

“We had no notice – we got the email about 20 minutes before the call at 4pm,” said one employee who asked not to be identified.

“No one knew there were two separate calls with two separate conference IDs – one for people who had been asked to stay on and the second for people who were being made redundant,” the staff member said.

The message was around four to five minutes long and was “as savage as it gets”, they said.

“We were automatically muted; we couldn’t say anything. It told us we were no longer required.”

They added: “We were told not to come back to the office and someone independent would collect [our] equipment, and then they cut off [the call].”

A second Missguided employee, whose job was spared, confirmed that there were two separate calls and likened the announcements to the way in which P&O Ferries informed 800 staff via a pre-recorded video message that they were being made redundant with immediate effect in March.

“The predominant feelings among colleagues [who have been kept on] are confusion, anger and for those of us lucky enough to have jobs already lined up, eagerness to leave,” they said.

The Missguided employee who lost their job said: “At least they [P&O Ferries staff] got a video, we just got a phone call…I couldn’t even say goodbye to my colleagues.”

Two company sources confirmed that security guards were stationed outside Missguided’s headquarters today and were checking that the IDs of those attempting to enter the premises matched names on a list of staff who had retained their jobs.

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Multiple employees affected by Missguided’s collapse are preparing to pursue legal action against the company over claims the redundancy process was not properly managed.

Aticus Law, in Manchester, said it was investigating claims brought by an undisclosed number of Missguided staff.

If successful, those involved in the challenge will be entitled to claim up to eight weeks’ pay in compensation, with a cap of £544 per week.

Neither Teneo nor Missguided chairman Ian Gray responded to requests for comment.

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