Owed thousands of pounds in wages, and company has changed name??

[cardiffworker]

Hi all,

I worked in a Tapas bar in cardiff during the year. Was paid on time for some of my time there, and payment was late the rest of the time. I left after months of working there, they still owed me money. They said they will pay asap, but never did even after much chasing.
Since this dispute about payment i sent bailiffs, but the owners were never there when they were visited. Tried to take them to court, but apparently as they have changed the name of the company i can no longer claim the wages i earned. So therefore, i have done months of free labour. The company is owned by the same people, and is in the same venue, but i can't take legal action against this new company. Is this true?? Can i do anything else? I'am owed thousands and i really want the money i worked really hard for.

Thanks for reading.

[wales01man]

Re: Owed thousands of pounds in wages, and company has changed name??

Did you get a CCJ against a company or a person?

[cardiffworker]

Re: Owed thousands of pounds in wages, and company has changed name??

Yes did that, and they said that they can't do anything because the company changed its name. So they are not legally viable for the outstanding wages. Even tho its run by the same people. Also there are a few other past employees in the same situation as me.

[wales01man]

Re: Owed thousands of pounds in wages, and company has changed name??

If it was a ltd company have you checked on companies house website to see if they are still trading or dissolved or liquidated?

[cardiffworker]

Re: Owed thousands of pounds in wages, and company has changed name??

Yes checked it and it is still active, the company name is taaboca ltd.

[wales01man]

Re: Owed thousands of pounds in wages, and company has changed name??

If their still active I think you need to get some more advice from Bailiffs as to why they are not collecting the money you are owed even contacting HCEO may get your money if they have any assets that can be seized to get your money.
Im sure someone will advice you on here better than I can

[Amethyst]

Re: Owed thousands of pounds in wages, and company has changed name??

20/06/2013

compulsory strike off suspended (diss16(soas))

Sounds as though their are other creditors too.

[wales01man]

Re: Owed thousands of pounds in wages, and company has changed name??

Put the company name into google don't look good sorry looks like no money as no company Companies house showing Disolved

[cardiffworker]

Re: Owed thousands of pounds in wages, and company has changed name??

I searched on companies house, it does not say dissolved.

[wales01man]

Re: Owed thousands of pounds in wages, and company has changed name??

Sorry my mistake as they are late filing accounts they may well soon be I know I had a company dissolved for that,think you need to seek urgent advice if you put the company name into google you may find out more

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Owed thousands of pounds in wages, and company has changed name??

When a company is liquidated, any unpaid wages as well as redundancy and notice payments are normally paid by the Insolvency Service. You have to fill in some forms and send them to the appointed liquidators who are meant to see if there's any money available from the company's funds before forwarding them on to the IS. However, I'm not sure whether this applies if you ended your employment before the liquidation occurred as seems to be the case here.

[MissFM]

Re: Owed thousands of pounds in wages, and company has changed name??

Hi Cardiffworker

I live not a million miles from you and have had enough dealings locally to recognise a pattern that seems particularly prevalent in these parts ie Limited Companies going bust overnight with other people's money in the directors' pockets, only for the same directors to set up an identical limited co under a different name and carry on trading without honouring previous financial commitments - seemingly without any redress for creditors.

If this is the company

http://www.companiesintheuk.co.uk/ltd/taaboca, then not only do they appear from the accounts to have been trading whilst in deep doodoo but at least one of the directors (http://www.companiesintheuk.co.uk/di...avid-griffiths ) would appear to have also been a director of another company which appears to be in liquidation qv:

//www.companiesintheuk.co.uk/ltd/the-east-london-dining-company

You need urgent legal advice IMHO - if the CCJ were against the directors as individuals you may be able to recover your money, or if it's in liquidation you should go straight to the receiver as advised above. If it's the normal conjuring trick - of going bankrupt rich - then in your shoes I would be inclined to approach the fraud squad as well.

[enquirer]

Re: Owed thousands of pounds in wages, and company has changed name??

Tried to take them to court, but apparently as they have changed the name of the company i can no longer claim the wages i earned.

Changing the name doesn't make the company disappear. It's simply "Company No. 123456, formerly known as ABC now trading as XYZ".

You engaged bailiffs, but you say you tried to take them to court, so what exactly is the situation?

[cardiffworker]

Re: Owed thousands of pounds in wages, and company has changed name??

(http://www.companiesintheuk.co.uk/di...avid-griffiths ) would appear to have also been a director of another company which appears to be in liquidation qv:

The company you highlighted here that the director also owns, is now the name of the company i previously worked for. It was taaboca ltd, and is now called fourth 7 ltd.

As for taking legal action, i have tried but i'am getting nowhere. Can you advise me exactly what to do as i'm a bit of a novice at this stuff. When taking legal action i was told i couldn't go any further because the company is under a different name. I have not tried the fraud squad, how do i contact such people?

Thanks for the advice btw.

[MissFM]

Re: Owed thousands of pounds in wages, and company has changed name??

https://www.fraudadvisorypanel.org/f...ting-fraud.php

It's a bit of a tricky one because actionfraud, apart from being overwhelmed, seems to be more about cyber crime. In your shoes, I would start with the local CID (ask their advice) and go for a scattergun approach ie report to everyone inc actionfraud (see link above). Companies House is as useless as the proverbial chocolate fireguard, IMHE, but complain to them too!

From what you've just said, this does look to me like quite a canny little scam shifting responsibility between ltd companies whilst creditors go whistle and the directors stay untouched. But that's just an opinion.:tinysmile_hmm_t2:

For legal advice, your first point of call would be your Union if you're in one (free legal advice). Otherwise, find a solicitor http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/find-a-solicitor/ that specialises in insolvency and company law, preferably pro bono. http://www.nationalprobonocentre.org.uk/

Legal advice needn't mean court action.

Please could you clarify how you got your CCJ and who it is against?