Mr C Cox v British Gas Services Limited — 2023

The claimant was employed as a Heating Sales Advisor from 21 April 2015 until his employment ended on 4 December 2020. The respondent said he was dismissed by reason of redundancy following the Reimagine Centrica project, which involved a business-wide redundancy programme after declining customer numbers and reduced earnings. The tribunal found that there was a reduced requirement for employees, including in the claimant's Level 8 HSA group, and that redundancy was the reason for dismissal.

The claimant alleged that the redundancy outcome was predetermined because of a poor relationship with his line manager, Mr Davies, and that the scoring was subjective. The tribunal did not accept those allegations. It found that the documentary evidence showed attempts to support the claimant, that there was no bullying campaign, no predetermined decision to dismiss him, and that the selection matrix and scoring process were applied with training, guidance, evidence-based examples, and regional and national calibration.

The tribunal found that the respondent carried out extensive collective consultation and three individual consultation meetings with the claimant, who was accompanied by his union representative. It also found that alternative employment was discussed and made available through Workday, including a sales agent role, and that the claimant confirmed he was not interested in available roles. The appeal was found to have been conducted thoroughly and fairly by an independent manager. The tribunal concluded that dismissal fell within the band of reasonable responses and that the claimant was fairly dismissed.