A recruitment campaign by failed bagel chain boss Larah Bross has backfired and attracted a slew of criticism.
The Bross Bagels founder, who filed for liquidation with debts of £1 million, has been advertising for staff to work “in a fast paced environment with fun, fellow bagel loving folk” with applicants told it’s a “dream job”.
Just days before an interim liquidator was appointed by the courts to wind up the affairs of Bross Bagels Ltd, Ms Bross and fellow director Marc Millar sold the company’s assets to her newly registered business Hot Mama Bagels Ltd for just £18,000.
Ms Bross was later forced to shutter the prime site Bross Bagels unit in St James Quarter but continues to operate in three of the original shops under the new entity in Portobello, Brunstfield and Stockbridge – still using Bross Bagels branding, marketing collateral and social media accounts.
The Bross Bagels brand was anchored on a strong social media following with consumers buying in to quirky marketing featuring self-publicist Ms Bross and celebrity endorsed product placement, but now restrictions are in place to limit who can post comments on its Instagram and Facebook accounts to prevent negative criticism.
However, when the “dream job” post appeared on Facebook group Porty People the advert was slated by locals in Ms Bross’s own Portobello back yard where she first launched the business.
One group member, Raymond Young, said: “They actually have no shame, it’s embarrassing for them!” while Sheila McKay added: “Won’t be buying any.”
Neil McManus asked: “Will you pay staff?”, while Peter Baird added: “So no job security as they have no business sense and will probably go bankrupt again, so who actually will want to go back to them?”.
And when Bross Bagels left comments open on one product-promoting social media post, an amused contributor on the Reddit site posted a thread titled: “Edinburgh’s favourite tax dodging peddler forgot to turn off comments on a post.”
On the same thread, poster Radiant_Community400 commented: “… banning everyone who’s comment isn’t gushing over them – even when I asked the innocent question ‘do you pay your taxies’ I got banned and now I can’t view my favourite tax dodging bagels no more …”.
The Edinburgh Reporter previously revealed that according to the liquidators’ interim report Bross Bagels had crashed with liabilities of £970,000 with the largest debt of £635,000 due to HM Revenue & Customs.
The firm’s bank Virgin Money was due £134,000, unsecured creditors – mainly small suppliers – were due approximately £265,000, while “Shareholers” – almost 150 individuals who had invested £1,000 each in two rounds of crowdfunding – were unlikely to receive a penny of the £148,000 due to them.
The Edinburgh Reporter asked Hot Mama Bagels if the job advert provided a sound career opportunity given that Bross Bagels had a past record of failing to pay wages, PAYE, National Insurance contributions, student loan payments, and would the new company fulfil employers’ duties by making appropriate tax and NI payments.
A spokesman replied: “Bross Bagels staff have never been left unpaid. As we have previously outlined, we took difficult actions to protect jobs and are now in a position to hire staff. We are happy to deal with any queries from genuine applicants via the email given in the advert.”
Stephen Rafferty is a former crime correspondent at The Scotsman and was a staff reporter for the Daily Record and Edinburgh Evening News. He has freelanced for many of the Scottish and UK national newspaper titles. Got a story? Get in touch - stephen@theedinburghreporter.co.uk
