P&O in financial difficulty

[s2bear]

P&O Ferries suspends all services ahead of 'major' announcement
'Serious disruption' on all routes as company seeks to secure its 'long-term viability'


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[WelshGas]

P&O Ferries suspends all services ahead of 'major' announcement
'Serious disruption' on all routes as company seeks to secure its 'long-term viability'


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I wonder if Russia is involved?

 

[s2bear]

I wonder if Russia is involved?

Or maybe just 2 years of travel restrictions taking its toll. Carte Blanche for Eurotunnel now …


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[Ch1pbutty]

Or maybe just 2 years of travel restrictions taking its toll. Carte Blanche for Eurotunnel now …


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Guess things didn't work out for DP World / Dubai World. Interested to see who buys it :

DP World buys back Britain-based P&O Ferries for £322 million

DP World has bought back British ferry and shipping freight operator P&O Ferries for £322 million, more than a decade after it sold it.

www.reuters.com

DP World to acquire P&O Ferries for $421m

DP World has announced the acquisition of the holding company of P&O Ferries and P&O Ferrymasters (P&O Ferries) in a deal valued at GBP322mn ($421m).

www.ship-technology.com

 

[s2bear]

I wonder if Russia is involved?

Maybe you’re right. Didn’t Russia and the UAE announce some economic tie up, yesterday?


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[Van Diesel VW]

Heavy losses last couple of years due to COVID, but sacking UK/French crews and replacing with cheap foreign labour, despicable move, potential safety implications. Wont be using P&O anytime soon, stick with tunnel.

 

[Ozzy Pete]

BF will be laughing all the way to the bank. If P&O fold there are only a few major ferry operators left. You can’t transport vehicles taller than 4.2 metres through the tunnel..Routes to and from Spain will always be popular because the only other option is road. I can see ferry prices rocket later this year like everything else...

 

[Kirk]

Just seen some video clips online of security staff boarding ship in balaclavas and handcuffing staff and dragging them off the ship.

Think I will be boycotting P&O if they stay afloat

 

[Ch1pbutty]

Eurotunnel share price:

 

[BeagleMum]

Just seen some video clips online of security staff boarding ship in balaclavas and handcuffing staff and dragging them off the ship.

Think I will be boycotting P&O if they stay afloat

‘Sacked P&O staff REFUSE to leave ports after bosses 'illegally' sent in heavies with handcuffs to turf them off ships as it emerges 800 workers were fired on ZOOM - leaving passengers stranded and services cancelled for days’ - utterly disgraceful behaviour from P&O​

 

[Gary&Heather]

I'm sorry to say but I think this company should be boycotted for the way they have treated their staff the same thing happened to me and my wife about 10 years ago when the printing company we work for did exactly the same thing one minute you're working away the next you're being pushed out the door with security men all around you very heartbreaking, the difference being the company we work for soon went into liquidation the way it looks to me P&O are using the excuse of the company is not viable routine so they can get agency workers in who will have no rights whatsoever shame on them.

 

[onceuponatimeinthenorth]

Just seen some video clips online of security staff boarding ship in balaclavas and handcuffing staff and dragging them off the ship.

Think I will be boycotting P&O if they stay afloat

How could that be legal?

 

[Ozzy Pete]

Owned by DP World in Dubai. Yet they managed to pay their shareholders £270 million in 2020.
Different morals in Dubai .....

 

[Velma's Dad]

On a news report this morning Simon Calder was saying the staff contracts were under Jersey law, not UK. If so that may be how they have got around UK employment law. Although I haven't seen the Jersey angle mentioned in other reports.

Pretty disgusting behaviour anyway.

[EDIT] To confirm, company said that the 800 sacked staff as "Jersey-contracted". So probably not much that can be done legally against this in UK.

 

[Ch1pbutty]

Owned by DP World in Dubai. Yet they managed to pay their shareholders £270 million in 2020.
Different morals in Dubai .....

Looks like many staff were not that happy before yesterdays news:

P&O Ferries Reviews: What Is It Like to Work At P&O Ferries?

74 P&O Ferries reviews. A free inside look at company reviews and salaries posted anonymously by employees.

www.glassdoor.co.uk

 

[NickAero]

Disgusting behaviour by all accounts. And certainly very botched way of running a consumer facing biz. Not surprisingly though it's owned by DP World who own most of Southampton's waterfront unfortunately (thanks to the Tories flogging it off).

Pretty sure that P&O Cruises (and all the other cruise operators) have been using agency offshore labour for many behind-the-scenes roles for years, and it hasn't stopped the growth of the cruising industry. It's huge here in Southampton and we regularly see the gaggles of Philippino crews on their rare R&R days ashore. I'm not condoning this in any way. But hope that if we raise this point, the disgust in the media may focus on the next-door cruise industry practices too...?

 

[Ozzy Pete]

This company is no different to Ryanair. Treat their employees and customers with total distain... But guarantee just like Ryanair if they discount their prices customers will come flocking back. British public have very short memories when it comes to saving a few quid.
For me I would completely boycott the company until they give all their Sacked employees their jobs back with proper guarantees.

 

[Velma's Dad]

Pretty sure that P&O Cruises (and all the other cruise operators) have been using agency offshore labour for many behind-the-scenes roles for years, and it hasn't stopped the growth of the cruising industry. It's huge here in Southampton and we regularly see the gaggles of Philippino crews on their rare R&R days ashore. I'm not condoning this in any way. But hope that if we raise this point, the disgust in the media may focus on the next-door cruise industry practices too...?

Just on that - as I understand it, P&O Cruises and P&O Ferries are completely separate businesses in different ownership? (Still, offshoring of labour is no doubt commonplace across the industry).

 

[Doorbundle]

Straight out of the "Instant Toxic Branding for Dummies" playbook.

 

[Velma's Dad]

Straight out of the "Instant Toxic Branding for Dummies" playbook.

Yes but as said above, people will still use them if they're the only operator on a particular route someone wants to use. And anyway much (I'm guessing most?) of its traffic is freight.

 

[Ozzy Pete]

Straight out of the "Instant Toxic Branding for Dummies" playbook.

The trouble is when you operate from a country where people are Told what to think and have no say about it this will happen. Can’t imagine Trade unions in Dubai, China or Russia to name only 3 countries. This is far from a perfect world as we have found out over the past 3 weeks.

 

[larrylamb]

On a news report this morning Simon Calder was saying the staff contracts were under Jersey law, not UK. If so that may be how they have got around UK employment law. Although I haven't seen the Jersey angle mentioned in other reports.

Pretty disgusting behaviour anyway.

[EDIT] To confirm, company said that the 800 sacked staff as "Jersey-contracted". So probably not much that can be done legally against this in UK.

Yet they cost the UK taxpayer £10 million in furlough payments, so they were happy to be "UK" then.
Disgusting and comptemtuous indeed.

 

[Ozzy Pete]

They probably thought that with a bloody war in Ukraine nobody would notice 800 being sacked...

 

[Ch1pbutty]

(Still, offshoring of labour is no doubt commonplace across the industry).

Yes, its the norm. Shipping is an International business so attracts fully qualified staff from all over the world. UK struggles to attract trainees as it not really pushed at school / college level hence the majority of the skilled labour pool tends to sit outside the UK. Also it takes a certain type of person to spend long periods away from home/family combined with the fact that ships are held at anchorage and will now discharge quite quickly once alongside so time for shore leave is very limited. (+ COVID reg's have meant zero shore leave for past few years).

Short Sea ferries are a bit different as unlikely that staff will spend long periods away from family, and due to the nature of the business alot more service staff are required, which attracts more staff from the local labour pool who can earn more at sea versus doing the same job landside.

 

[soulstyledevon]

It’s worth having a listen to Jeremy Vine this afternoon. He actually interviewed one of the Agency staff who had no idea what was happening and actually walked out with two others in disgust…

This company proves everything that’s wrong with Capitalism.