P&O Ferries boss accused of ‘corporate terrorism’ by MSPs and refuses to reverse sacking 800

The chief executive of P&O Ferries has been accused of ‘corporate terrorism’ after sacking 800 seafarers.

Peter Hebblethwaite appeared before the Scottish Parliament’s Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee on Tuesday, and was repeatedly lambasted by MSPs for the company’s decision, which he insisted saved thousands of jobs.

Despite telling the committee he did not receive a pay cut, Mr Hebblethwaite stressed it was ‘not all about the money’ for new agency staff – some of whom will be paid an average of just £5.50 per hour.

Labour MSP, Monica Lennon, took the chief executive, who repeatedly said there had been misleading reporting around the scandal, to task over the issue.

‘We know that you fired 800 experienced workers with an average service of 20 years,’ she said.

‘You sent in security guards with balaclavas and handcuffs – it is an extreme act of corporate terrorism.’

Ms Lennon went on to say that a Westminster committee deemed Mr Hebblethwaite not to be a ‘fit and proper person’, before asking when he will resign.

‘I want to be absolutely clear that there is a lot of press that is frankly inaccurate,’ Mr Hebblethwaite replied.

‘We did employ a security firm of professionals to keep our ships safe, but much, much more importantly, our people safe at a very emotional time for them.

‘The facts of the day (are) no balaclavas, none of those things that were reported on and there wasn’t a single incident – not one – of anybody being hurt, of anything inappropriate happening.’

He went on to say he had ‘no plans’ to resign from his post.

P&O Ferries has made moves to ‘reduce the cost of our senior management by as much, or more, as we have other parts of the business,’ he added, with some of the high level managers taking as much as a 50% pay cut.

Mr Hebblethwaite said he had not received a pay cut.

New agency staff who are not officers that will work on P&O Ferries’ vessels will receive an average of £5.50 per hour, which is in line with international standards, but Mr Hebblethwaite said seafaring was about more than money.

Mr Hebblewaite has insisted he will not reverse the decision to sack nearly 800 seafarers despite being given ‘one further opportunity’ by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.

He wrote to the Cabinet minister claiming his request yesterday ‘ignores the situation’s fundamental and factual realities’.

Re-employing the sacked workers on their previous wages would ‘deliberately cause the company’s collapse, resulting in the irretrievable loss of an additional 2,200 jobs’, the letter stated.

‘I cannot imagine that you would wish to compel an employer to bring about its own downfall, affecting not hundreds but thousands of families.’

But the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said ‘commercial challenges’ did not provide an excuse to ‘subvert the law’.

‘The Transport Secretary has said he will bring forward a package of legislation on this,’ the spokesman said.

‘With regards to their response, clearly we recognise that there are significant commercial challenges facing businesses of all sorts and they may face difficult commercial decisions.

‘But that does not excuse seeking to subvert the law or treat employees in the way that we have seen from this company.

‘That’s why we will continue to seek to take this action.’

When P&O Ferries announced its decision to replace its crews with cheaper agency workers, it stated that the business needed to cut costs to survive as it was losing £100 million a year.

The letter was in response to a letter from Mr Shapps which stated that P&O Ferries had ‘one further opportunity to reverse this decision by immediately offering all 800 workers their jobs back’. 

Mr Hebblethwaite also rejected the minister’s request to delay the deadline of Thursday for sacked workers to accept redundancy offers, as more than 765 of the 786 affected people have ‘taken steps to accept the settlement offer’.

He wrote: ‘These are legally binding agreements, and crew members who have entered them will rightly expect us to comply with their terms.’

The chief executive insisted he will continue in his role despite Mr Shapps describing his position as ‘untenable’.

Mr Hebblethwaite wrote: ‘I am fully cognisant of the reputational cost to the P&O Ferries brand and me personally.

‘That notwithstanding, I am compelled to discharge my duties for this historical company, saving the jobs of the 2,200 dedicated employees who continue working for P&O Ferries and providing for the effective operation of the trade routes upon which this country depends.’

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency detained a second vessel belonging to P&O Ferries following a safety inspection.

Pride Of Kent is being held at the Port of Dover.

Another of the firm’s ships, European Causeway, remains under detention in Larne, Northern Ireland.

The decision over redundancies related solely to P&O Ferries and not the Southampton-based firm P&O Cruises, which is unconnected to the firm.