Former staff at a Midlothian pub and boutique hotel have accused the owners of systematically withholding wages and ignoring legal rulings to pay more than £14,000 in unpaid wages and holiday pay.
Three Employment Tribunals ordered The Sun Inn near Newtongrange to compensate two former chefs and a front-of-house supervisor but the judgements were ignored, forcing the trio to take expensive legal action.
It was only after one of the ex-employees threatened to send in sheriff officers to seize and auction off property – and The Edinburgh Reporter prepared to reveal a shocking history of unpaid debts – that pub bosses hastily stumped up some of the outstanding arrears.
The Sun Inn is operated by Craig Minto but his name does not appear on company documents because he has a long history of tax dodging and until last month he was serving a five year ban preventing him from being a company director.
The historic pub is nominally owned by Tanglewood Hospitality Ltd, which according to Companies House lists Minto’s ex-wife Jaysree Patel, and Gill Stewart who runs the front-of-house operation, as directors.
Former chef Cameron Dempster was awarded almost £9,000 in unpaid wages, holiday pay, bonus and tips by an Employment Tribunal last August but Tanglewood Hospitality ignored the legal ruling and Gill Stewart replied to an attempt to settle the matter amicably with a “laughing face” emoji.
Cameron Dempster told The Edinburgh Reporter: “Craig Minto runs the place but he’s not on any official records because of tax evasion. I was in effect doing the job of head chef but only getting paid as a chef de partie, and every time I mentioned getting paid properly there was always some excuse that he would discuss it later.”
Following the tribunal ruling, Cameron instructed sheriff officers to enforce an “attachment” – a legal mechanism which prevents assets being moved or sold and which can be auctioned to recover debts. He said attachments to the value of £10,000 had been served covering the pub’s coffee machine, stovetop and two Rational combi-ovens.
He added: “Before I took this to a tribunal I told Gill Stewart I would drop the case if they paid me £8,000 which I thought was reasonable. I warned them it would cost more money if I took them to court – the only reply I got was a laughing emoji by text.”
SUN INN’S ARTFUL TAX DODGING CASTS LONG SHADOW ON PUB – CLICK HERE
On 21 January, the day sheriff officers were due to attend The Sun Inn to seize the goods, Minto contacted Cameron offering to settle the dispute and paid a total of £12,700 covering the tribunal award, interest and legal fees.
Cameron added: “I have no doubt that the combined pressure of sheriff officers arriving to enforce the court order, along with increased media attention from The Edinburgh Reporter, led to the Sun Inn finally paying me in full. I’m glad to put this unhappy episode behind me, but I would urge others to be cautious when considering doing business with Craig Minto.”
Separately, hospitality worker Eden Grainger and her chef partner Luke Taylor, were respectively awarded £2,399 and £3,023, respectively, in tribunal rulings last July when they took action to recover unpaid wages, holiday pay and tips due to them.
Eden said: “We’ve sent Sheriff Officers to the Sun Inn to serve papers on them but so far we’ve heard nothing. It’s pretty appalling but at the same time I am not surprised. I am just kicking myself for ever working there and would caution anyone thinking of taking up a job.”
The Edinburgh Reporter attempted to obtain a comment from Craig Minto. Gill Stewart refused to comment.
