A furious boss has been slammed by his former workforce, after sacking them in an email which said he could not work with them “a moment longer”.
Sydney Hardy, managing director of Nippy Bus, based in South Somerset, wrote to employees on Sunday afternoon saying they could “consider themselves dismissed [and] redundant”.
Writing of his sudden decision in an insult-laden memo on an internal system, he said: “There is a difference between giving up and knowing when you have [had] enough.”
He continued: “I have had enough and realise I cannot work with you, the people I employ, a moment longer.
“There comes a time in any relationship when you just have to say ‘fuck it’, say goodbye and move on. This is my time!
“I am quitting to pursue my dream of not having to work here.”
The shock memo landed in the inboxes of dozens of drivers at the firm, leaving them jobless in the run up to Christmas. The firm ran up to 17 buses.
“I am quitting to pursue my dream of not having to work here.”
- Sydney Hardy, boss of Nippy Bus
Sacked driver Steve Atkins said that he was “very angry that it was done that way”.
Dave English, 64, who had worked at Nippy Bus for almost nine years, added: “It’s disgusting the way it’s been handled. Nobody has any respect for him.
“He wasn’t a nice person to work with. You can’t just bury your head the way he has done and not confront the problems.
“He knew months ago that the company was in trouble in terms of the number of drivers we had.”
“Everyone was doing long shifts but he just expected us to do them.
“The memo makes it out that it’s the drivers’ fault that this has happened, but without us he would never have had his company.
“He was always going off to Thailand on holidays. He was never around. He let other people do his job for him.
“Some of these drivers have children and mortgages. We haven’t been paid for last month’s work.”
Hardy refused to comment when approached by reporters at his home in Yeovil on Tuesday.
The company’s customer website said it has ceased operating with immediate effect.
Meanwhile, Cornwall Council officials were on Tuesday scrambling to replace school services formerly run by Nippy, affecting hundreds of pupils.
The Council said in a statement: “The council was given no prior notice of a decision by Nippy Bus taken late on Sunday to cease operating with immediate effect.
“Nippy Bus ran several school and public bus contracts as well as a number of demand responsive transport (DRT) services and private services.
“More than 300 students were affected across 4 schools – Stanchester Academy, Huish Episcopi Academy, Ansford Academy and Keinton Mandeville Primary School – [on Monday] morning.
“A number of public bus services were also affected and council officers have been working with bus operators to find replacements.”