Wrightbus

[markl121]

Read somewhere during week, can't remember where, that employees had part of their salary deducted to go to the religious nutters' planned Ballymena Disneyland. Apparently one guy objected and promptly lost his job. ASFAIK, it's illegal to deduct anything from salary that is not tax/national insurance without the employee's permission. Added to that, their buses are supposed to be absolute shite and hated by many commuters in London

What a pathetic comment. Apparently, can't remember, supposed and shite.

Well the guy posted on twitter about salary deductions so you can check there princess.

Whats the craic with the sale of the land for 4 million? was the sale legit? I read a bbc news article about it from 2012 stating the land was on the open market and noone wanted it so I think if thats the case then it was fair game and it cant really be used as a stick to beat them with. Although funding the 4 million purchase with the sale of their church to wrights is dodgy.  If it wasnt on the open market then surely the big contractors in the north could demand an investigation into the sale?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-19555107

[red hander]

Read somewhere during week, can't remember where, that employees had part of their salary deducted to go to the religious nutters' planned Ballymena Disneyland. Apparently one guy objected and promptly lost his job. ASFAIK, it's illegal to deduct anything from salary that is not tax/national insurance without the employee's permission. Added to that, their buses are supposed to be absolute shite and hated by many commuters in London

What a pathetic comment. Apparently, can't remember, supposed and shite.

I'll take that as a badge of honour, coming from the biggest clown on the board since Fearon was banned 

[square_ball]

Read somewhere during week, can't remember where, that employees had part of their salary deducted to go to the religious nutters' planned Ballymena Disneyland. Apparently one guy objected and promptly lost his job. ASFAIK, it's illegal to deduct anything from salary that is not tax/national insurance without the employee's permission. Added to that, their buses are supposed to be absolute shite and hated by many commuters in London

What a pathetic comment. Apparently, can't remember, supposed and shite.

I'll take that as a badge of honour, coming from the biggest clown on the board since Fearon was banned 

You’ve had a nightmare there trailer son.

[dec]

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/man-remanded-over-terrorist-offences-1.805642

Fri, Apr 13, 2007, 01:00

A factory manager at a major Northern Ireland bus builder that last week secured an order from Bus Éireann was charged today with being a loyalist terrorist.

Darren Leslie Richardson (30) of Randalstown, Co Antrim, was accused of being a member of the outlawed Ulster Volunteer Force when he appeared in court at Larne, Co Antrim.

He was further charged with the possession of documents likely to be of use to terrorists and possession of a quantity of ammunition at the Wrightbus plant at Galgorm outside Ballymena, Co Antrim, between a date unknown and April 11th....

[Smokin Joe]

Unfortunately for the workforce it looks like it's happening today: https://news.sky.com/story/boris-bus-maker-to-crash-into-administration-11818680?fbclid=IwAR3WyggXLnnWoupaw-25C6xkGLQNjEZytB9T0nEuEz3Z6mDjpXEPQiBNnyg

[6th sam]

Unfortunately for the workforce it looks like it's happening today: https://news.sky.com/story/boris-bus-maker-to-crash-into-administration-11818680?fbclid=IwAR3WyggXLnnWoupaw-25C6xkGLQNjEZytB9T0nEuEz3Z6mDjpXEPQiBNnyg

Regardless of people’s feelings about Wrightbus,  there are 1300 workers and their families under pressure , hopefully a buyer can be found

[bannside]

Not a chance though of that happening. Ian Ogs dodgy connections, the greater DUP financial support base, the Leonard Steinberg Israeli connection, the usual empty promises from Boris to do all he can.....its useless when measured against an immediate capital injection of £30 million pounds, unfavourable currency trade prices and an estimated annual running cost loss of £15m a year. Not a businessman in the world would entertain that scenario...its not even close to adding up and it wouldnt take a top 4 accountancy firm to know that.

This business will be sold off in parts and the best employees can hope for is that their section of the business is sold as a going concern. A tough time for them no doubt, the mistakes of company management well outside their control.

[square_ball]

Will the fact Wrightbus announced last week that the employee contracts would be TUPE’d across to any new owner not have any potential investor running a mile? 1,300 jobs and god knows (pardon the pun) how many subcontractors and local suppliers affected too.

[bannside]

Any buyer to date whos looked at it in detail has run a mile. A company well known for its political affiliations (William Wright signed Paisleys nomination papers) various occurences of alleged para military type activity on the premises, a series of confidential leaks during the sale process, a well known culture of bullying in the workforce, led from top down, a CEO Pastor Geoff who by his own admission never passed an exam in his life but allegedly had a message from God to build his own shrine on the edge of town.....tell me who in their right mind wouldnt take one look at that and run the proverbial mile.

Sympathy indeed for the many innocent families, subbies at Green Pastures included) who could be badly affected by this, but for the Wright family its a case of the chickens coming home to roost, and the vast majority of people wont have one ounce of sympathy for them.

[johnnycool]

Ian Og was lamenting the loss of Wright bus this morning on the radio and when asked about the charitable donations of £4M two years ago when the company was on a downturn he got a little unsure but rallied with the line that it was the directors personal dividend and they could do with it what they pleased.

Distinct smell of that one.

Pity for the ordinary Joes all the same who'll take the biggest hit.

[trailer]

Read somewhere during week, can't remember where, that employees had part of their salary deducted to go to the religious nutters' planned Ballymena Disneyland. Apparently one guy objected and promptly lost his job. ASFAIK, it's illegal to deduct anything from salary that is not tax/national insurance without the employee's permission. Added to that, their buses are supposed to be absolute shite and hated by many commuters in London

What a pathetic comment. Apparently, can't remember, supposed and shite.

I'll take that as a badge of honour, coming from the biggest clown on the board since Fearon was banned 

You’ve had a nightmare there trailer son.

Did I?
AFAIK? Maybe? Go and check? People love a good rumour. If you think Wrightbus were deducing money from peoples wages WITHOUT THEIR CONSENT then you're in cloud cuckoo-land.

It's sad that these jobs are going to be lost. Hopefully someone will come in and buy the healthy parts of the business and keep the employment in the area.

[Smokin Joe]

Ian Og was lamenting the loss of Wright bus this morning on the radio and when asked about the charitable donations of £4M two years ago when the company was on a downturn he got a little unsure but rallied with the line that it was the directors personal dividend and they could do with it what they pleased.

Distinct smell of that one.

Pity for the ordinary Joes all the same who'll take the biggest hit.

But they weren't dividends Ian.  They were charitable donations.  In 2017 the Holding company (Cornerstone) made £4.1m charitable donations as well as a dividend of £400k.

But ultimately the directors will have signed off on the fact that the charitable donations were the right thing for the company to do.  The directors of Cornerstone in 2017 were W Wright, L Rocks and A Knowles. 
Interestingly Mark Nodder who was brought in to be CEO of the trading company Wrightbus wasn't a director of Cornerstone.  So you have a guy brought in for his expertise in running the business yet he has no say at the top table where the decision was made for that much money to leave the group.  That certainly seems like a bit of a problem!

[TabClear]

Will the fact Wrightbus announced last week that the employee contracts would be TUPE’d across to any new owner not have any potential investor running a mile? 1,300 jobs and god knows (pardon the pun) how many subcontractors and local suppliers affected too.

I'm no expert on the process but I think a sale out of administration is much more atttractive for potential buyers as they can cherrypick what they want and leave certain liabilities behind. I would be surprised if a large chunk of the business is not of interest to multiple buyers, however potentially not with a Ballymena based manufacturing facility (and a church).

[NAG1]

Is there not still a substantial amount owed to McLaughlin Harvey for the construction of the white elephant church?

Surely it will have to go as well, as there will be no more money coming from WrightBus to prop the cult up?

[Keyser soze]

Read somewhere during week, can't remember where, that employees had part of their salary deducted to go to the religious nutters' planned Ballymena Disneyland. Apparently one guy objected and promptly lost his job. ASFAIK, it's illegal to deduct anything from salary that is not tax/national insurance without the employee's permission. Added to that, their buses are supposed to be absolute shite and hated by many commuters in London

What a pathetic comment. Apparently, can't remember, supposed and shite.

I'll take that as a badge of honour, coming from the biggest clown on the board since Fearon was banned 

You’ve had a nightmare there trailer son.

Did I?
AFAIK? Maybe? Go and check? People love a good rumour. If you think Wrightbus were deducing money from peoples wages WITHOUT THEIR CONSENT then you're in cloud cuckoo-land.

It's sad that these jobs are going to be lost. Hopefully someone will come in and buy the healthy parts of the business and keep the employment in the area.

There certainly was a story a few days ago from a person in exactly this situation, can't rem where I read it though but it was a named person who lost their job due to objecting to making the contribution.