ETFI director Dan Morris sent letter to 150 staff asking them to reapply for their old roles through new partner company
Staff at Escape to Freight Island have received a letter explaining they will have to reapply for their old jobs following a decision by the popular venue to go into partnership with a new events company.
On Thursday Escape to Freight Island director Dan Morris sent a letter to his 15o staff members telling them he was ‘excited to inform’ them that as of 20th March the staffing of the venue’s eight bars would being managed by Peppermint Events, and “therefore we are notifying you of our intention to terminate your contract with Freight Island directly thus ending on 16th March 2023. As per your contract, one week’s notice is being given”.
Morris then told staff he ‘would be delighted’ if they wished to continue working at the venue, but they must complete a job application for the roles they had been occupying.
Following the confusion around Freight Island and Peppermint partnership, the company have issued a new letter to staff to reassure them on their job roles.
This followed a two-month period of uncertainty for staff after the venue was closed in January for what they were told would be two weeks.
The letter was shared anonymously online, where it sparked outrage among commenters.
In a press release announcing the partnership, Dan Morris and Alex Brooke, Co-Founder of Peppermint, said: “The joining of forces between Peppermint Bars and Freight Island is an extremely powerful partnership and puts us in a great position to maximise the potential of our Manchester site and move forward with our expansion plans.
Brooke added: “Partnering with a site that has re-invented the way the world sees Hospitality, is a really exciting move for Peppermint. We are committed to the customer journey, leading with cutting edge technology, in turn creating some amazing opportunities within the city of Manchester.”
When contacted by Confidentials regarding the letter, a spokesperson for Freight Island and Peppermint Events explained that “Following the confusion around Freight Island and Peppermint partnership, the company have issued a new letter to staff to reassure them on their job roles and includes the following statement: ‘We are looking forward to working with all the staff and we wanted to reassure our staff we would love for them to continue working in the venue (just as they have done previously). We are looking forward to the new chapter of Freight Island with our team. We will be in touch shortly to start getting the rota ready for re-launch.”
Escape to Freight Island is due to reopen on 1 April.
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