Taking over a going concern business - TUPE

[jezzaaa]

Hi all,

Hope you're all well

Got a question re TUPE. I'm considering taking over another going concern, mainly because we want the premises for another business activity, not related to the existing one.

There are a number of staff working there, and unfortunately none are suitable to be employed as part of the new business due to the specific skills and experience required. None of the existing staff are skilled, and I suspect that their employment contracts will not have any complex redundancy arrangements etc. The current owner has said he'll only sell as a going concern and he doesn't want to deal with the staff issues.

So the rather insensitive question is...can we give them all notice on the completion date and just pay them for that month? Or will there be statutory redundancy payments etc?

Thanks,
J.

[jezzaaa]

Cyberprog said:

Rather than TUPE them into your existing company, why not buy out the other company and keep it separate, then wind it up.

Sounds interesting...but I would like to be fair to the current employees. After all, it's hardly their fault and will have huge implications for them.

[jezzaaa]

desolate said:

It's a redundancy situation.

So they will have to be paid at least the statutory minimums.

Hmmm I thought as much...time to google that then!

[jezzaaa]

Sounds like the key questions are how many full time and part time employees are there, how long they've worked there, how old they are and what their weekly pay is.

So our costs per person will be a month's pay plus the redundancy. according to gov.uk...if they're on minimum wage, they're 30 years old and have worked there for 5 years, the payment is about 1400 quid per worker.

[jezzaaa]

fat80b said:

If the business is a going concern and you are just going to wind it up anyway, is there not a way you can not offer the employees the business (albeit not in the premises), they could take the business on and relocate to somewhere else perhaps?

Bob

Hi Bob - it's a good thought, but unfortunately the old business has to have the premises to work. It's currently a pub!!

[jezzaaa]

Breadvan72 said:

A good example of internet rubbish!

OP, there is NO SUBSTITUTE for taking insured professional advice about this. TUPE is complex. Get it wrong and you may face a big bill. Saying "some blokes on a car forum said it would be OK" won't help.

Hi BV .. thanks! I agree...I will be taking professional advice...but I like to be a little bit prepared so I can open up with good questions rather than going in cold. And I find PH a fantastically useful mine of information...you can always count on someone here being knowledgeable, even about the most arcane/obscure subjects!

[jezzaaa]

edc said:

Based on your initial sentence TUPE may not need to be an issue. However, the devil is in the detail. If you are looking for a simple asset purchase then you may avoid be able to TUPE. In any case, why would you want to buy a business, with other unnecessary assets as well as liabilities when you have identified the one thing you want?

I'd rather just buy the asset...but the current owner isn't willing to do it. He'll only sell it as a going concern.