Thanks for 25 years service ... you're sacked !

Shirley Ogden was told she was being fired minutes after getting a gold watch for 25 years of loyal service.

Shirley was presented with the gift by managing director Steven Luddington. He praised her as a hard-working and valuable member of staff known for her flexibility.

But with the applause of her colleagues still ringing in her ears, she was then called into Mr Luddington’s office and told she was one of twelve workers on a redundancy list.

And to add insult to injury she learnt that she wasn’t even being considered for another in-house post that was being offered to other staff.

On her redundancy score-card she had been marked down for not being flexible enough. The accounts administrator wept when she finally got home with the gold watch and photos of her presentation in one hand and P45 in the other.

Shirley, 49, said: “I can’t believe how shabbily I have been treated. The way Mr Luddington behaved is exactly like David Brent in The Office. One minute they were giving me a lovely speech telling me what a valued member of the team I was, how loyal, hard-working and flexible I am and how much I’ve achieved in my 25 years of employment.

“And the next they were announcing redundancies with my name on the list. It’s a disgrace.” Shirley, a grandmother with two grown-up children, worked for Hilding Anders UK which owns the Slumberland bedding brand.

The firm’s motto is: “All the support you need — all the comfort you deserve.”