Cheap Chep bosses take back bonuses

Tight-fisted bosses at a pallet-making company have forced staff to give back £1,000 bonuses despite making £86million a year.

All 98 members of staff at the Manchester depot of Chep UK received an extra £1,600 before tax, only to have it taken away again just five days later.

After checking with bosses, the workers were led to believe the pay supplements were a genuine reward for new work programmes and many splashed out on luxuries.

But the next week Chep’s head office said the money had been wrongly issued after a ‘processing error’ and would be withdrawn from next month’s wages.

With staff typically taking home £1,300 this mix-up will leave many in serious strife. Meanwhile, the company registered profits of £86m in 2003 and manages to pay its top director £135,000 a year.