Staff claim they are owed up to £20,000
Owner of Poppies of Wirral Richard Pearson(Image: ECHO reader)
A former Channel 5 presenter has shut down his cleaning business, leaving 29 members of staff without jobs. Presenter of Filthy House SOS Richard Pearson started running Poppies of Wirral more than then years ago but the the domestic cleaning service was shuttered earlier this month.
Mr Pearson, from Formby, was picked to present the Channel 5 show which was broadcast in 2020 because of his successful cleaning company Poppies Cleaning Service of Wirral. Though the dad-of-two had no experience in TV at the time, he had more than 10 years of cleaning expertise under his belt, thanks to his Heswall-based business which was incorporated in 2014
He previously told the ECHO the homes he helped clean are “extreme” cases of hoarding and uncleanliness.
This month the ECHO was contacted by former Poppies Wirral employees, claiming they were owed up to £20,000 in wages between them.
They were upset that after telling them he was shutting down the business Mr Pearson then went on holiday to France where he shared pictures of himself on social media. Staff say they were unhappy to see the images, while they struggled to pay bills and feed their families after finding out they were losing their jobs.
When contacted by the ECHO Mr Pearson said that liquidating his business was his last resort after it became unprofitable following the coronavirus pandemic. He claimed he’d pumped money from his personal accounts into the business to pay staff, including selling his car in attempts to cover wages.
However, over one month after employees were told the business was to close, they are still waiting to receive wages they say they are owed. Mum-of-two Emma Copland, 50, from Bebington, was an officer manager at the company.
She told the ECHO how the company had been losing customers and on Monday, October 26, Mr Pearson told staff that he was “not coming back” and quit. She claims at the time she “didn’t think too much into it” as he “talks the talk all the time”.
Richard Pearson on Filthy House SOS
Staff continued to work as normal until Friday that week, when she said Mr Pearson announced he was liquidating the business and then began posting holiday pictures on Instagram.
She said: “Thankfully, I’m ok but some of the staff have had to take out crisis loans. One had been posting on Facebook asking for help to feed her dogs. They have children, one is pregnant, nobody is coping.
“I’m so angry and upset. I feel responsible for almost 30 staff members, knowing they all live hand to mouth, pay check to pay check, and can’t afford to feed their kids. I am worried about what’s going to happen. We will have to claim our unpaid wages from HMRC but he owes us up to £20,000 in total between us.” Emma claims she is personally owed £2,200.
Mr Pearson said he had begun speaking with liquidators after the business’ profits dwindled and he realised he could no longer pay staff wages. He said: “At the time I had around £3,000 to my name, which wouldn’t cover my staff’s wages.
“I couldn’t pay staff and I wasn’t going to have a business past November. I was stuck. Liquidators told me that if I liquidated the business staff would get paid just not immediately, which was the best case scenario. I made the decision to liquidate the business, which was the hardest thing I have ever had to do.”
Poppies Wirral cleaner Vicky Nelson, 30, from Little Neston, claims she’s owed around £700. She says staff have been left with “no money.”
She said: “My mum is owed about £2,500, she also worked for him. That money could get me through the month. People are struggling.
“One of his staff has no money at all, me and my mum had to send her some money just to see her through the month. Everyone has been left in a rubbish situation. It has left us all worried. People are here struggling because of what he has done.”
Nicholas Brady, 64, from Prenton, had recently retired and began cleaning for Poppies UK for “something to do.” He claims he is owed around £1,000 plus holiday pay.
He said: “I feel really let down. The way we just got a message to say everything had closed just feels really bad. I have customers who rely on me because they are elderly, they look forward to my company, it just has such a knock on effect.
“Some of the girls are struggling like hell, they are worried. We have been left high and dry. Luckily I have a pension, so I’m comfortable but that is not the case for everyone else. For me, it’s not the wages, it’s the disappointment of how we’ve been treated. There has been no care for his staff.”
Mr Pearson says winding up Poppies was the “hardest decision” he has ever had to face and now means, at the age of 49, he is also having to start from scratch.
He said: “I’ve had Poppies Cleaning Service Wirral for 15 years as part of a national franchise. During that time we have had covid, where we went from a profitable business to not profitable. For the last three years the business wasn’t profitable and in that time I’ve had to help fund the business from my personal accounts to help it run.
“Then we had the cost of living crisis. My salary depleted by a third and I was putting money into the business from my personal funds. We started to make a small profit then the pre-budget 2024 meant our National Insurance cost increased by £2,000 per month at this point I had no personal money left to put into the business. We lost a third of our business. I sold my car and had around £3,000 to my name, which wouldn’t cover my staff’s wages.
“I started speaking to liquidators and at that point I realised I couldn’t pay staff and I wasn’t going to have a business past November. I was stuck. Liquidators told me that if I liquidated the business staff would get paid just not immediately, which was the best case scenario.
“I made the decision to liquidate the business, which was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I’m 49, I’ve invested all this time and money into it and I’m going to have to start again.
“It’s been the hardest decision. The guilt you feel is huge. I feel like a failure and I wish I could have done more but at least by liquidating it I knew staff would eventually get paid.”
