SCORES of workers who lost their jobs when a York printing business went into administration last year are finally set to receive a payout.

About 100 employees at Elvington-based York Mailing lost their jobs overnight when the firm’s parent company YM Group Yorkshire went into administration in March last year.

One worker who spoke to The Press at the time said they had received pay slips the night before - but then found that no money had gone into their bank accounts.

Now, following an industrial tribunal last week, they will share in a £2.5m ‘protective award’ for 700 former employees of YM Group Yorkshire.

The award will be shared by workers from Pinder in Scarborough and YM Chantry in Wakefield, who also lost their jobs when the parent company went into administration.

It will be worth eight weeks pay, capped at a maximum of £571 per week, and is in lieu of redundancy payments which workers never received, says the Unite union, which took the case to a tribunal on behalf of the workers through Thompsons Solicitors.

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Former Pinder employee Craig Hewitt, from Scarborough, said it had been a ‘long road’ getting what he and his fellow workers were entitled to.

He said: "It was a real shock coming into work one day and the site just being closed with no notice.

“It caused a great deal of anxiety for everyone because we didn't know how we were going to pay our bills.

“It's been a long road to getting what we were entitled to. Fortunately the union had our backs from the start and thanks to Unite even people who weren't part of the union received the protective award."

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “It is obviously terrible news when a company goes into administration and workers lose their jobs. But Unite doesn’t rest when it comes to pursuing justice for our members. This case shows that.”

Staff from specialist business advisory firm FRP were appointed as administrators for York Mailing when it went into administration last year.

FRP said that the move came after a 'significant period of challenging trading, that had been exacerbated by the impact of the pandemic and rising input prices.' It followed unsuccessful efforts to find a buyer for all three of the YM Group businesses.

"Without the prospect of investment or a sale, the companies have ceased to operate,” a spokesperson for FRP told The Press at the time.

In the days leading up to the closure of York Mailing Nick Germani, co-owner of Showcase Pallets of Birstall, had blockaded the York site with a lorry and then a van.

Mr Germani said he had delivered 8,080 pallets to the firm in recent months, and was owed about £67,000 for them.

York Mailing produced a range of catalogues, brochures, inserts, flyers and leaflets.