1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216 
Drivers caught out by fast food flop
Page 6
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Nearly 400 drivers are hurting after giving up work for a promised contact only to find themselves high and dry. Dominic Perry reports.
Exclusive
WINCANTONS FAILED bid to win work from the restaurant chain McDonalds has left hundreds of drivers out of pocket. Wincanton had attempted to win the lucrative contract from Golden West, which was in the process of being sold by parent company, RHM. To prepare for this.in January this year Wincanton asked the agency ADR to recruit almost 400 drivers by February.
But the start of the contract was repeatedly delayed: eventually drivers were told that it had been put into a "maintenance phase" with a notification period of two weeks prior to the revised start date.
The drivers were offered a retainer of 50% of the basic day rate, provided that they completed the first eight weeks' work once the contract started.
But now the logistics company has pulled the plug following US firm Keystone Distribution's acquisition of Golden West and its retention of the McDonalds' contract. The drivers have been left without a penny. ADR says they are not owed a retainer as the contract never went ahead.
One driver recruited by ADR says: "February is a quiet time of year and [at the time] it was hard to pick up anything else. But I've since turned away other work [to keep this]."
ADR MD Emma Guyton says: "To a certain extent this is an unfortunate natural consequence of a review of logistics operations that did not bear fruit."
Keystone already handles the distribution for McDonalds in the UK, the US and on the Continent. Its website boasts that 3,000 restaurants worldwide rely on its deliveries.
Wincanton was unavailable for comment as CM went to press. dominic.perry@rbi.co.uk