Miss Brooke Strange v Ms Jane Stratford t/a Jane de Weck Photography — 2025

The tribunal treated Ms Jane Stratford and Jane de Weck Photography as one respondent, because Ms Stratford was a sole trader and the trading name was simply the name under which her business operated. Miss Brooke Strange had worked for the business for over 12 years, starting in March 2013, and the business stopped trading in March 2025. The claim was brought on 25 March 2025. The respondent did not attend the hearing and the claim was not disputed.

The tribunal accepted the claimant's account that she had been told two weeks in advance that her contract would end on 15 March 2025, and on that basis concluded that the contract ended on that date rather than 11 April 2025. It also noted that there was nothing to show that Ms Stratford had applied for a Debt Relief Order, and that the claimant said her name did not appear on the national register, so there was no restriction on the proceedings.

The tribunal upheld three monetary claims. It found that the claimant was entitled to a statutory redundancy payment based on 12 years' service, with 9 years at one week's pay and 3 years at half a week's pay, using a gross weekly figure of £486, producing £5,103. It found a failure to pay the full notice entitlement, holding that the claimant was entitled to 12 weeks' notice but had been paid for only the first two weeks, so the balance of 10 weeks' net pay at £432 per week came to £4,320. It also accepted the agreed unpaid holiday pay figure of £486. The total award was £9,909.