Britain’s richest men, the Hinduja brothers, are worth £22billion and are using taxpayer money to furlough staff at their bus company
The Hinduja family built a large fortune through their transport company Optare, but despite their wealth, they are using the Government furlough scheme to pay their staff.
The firm makes electric buses and is based in North Yorkshire, 360 employees, some of which have been furloughed, even though the Hinduja family topped The Sunday Times Rich List last year.
Tory MP Peter Bone said that he hoped the Hindujas would ‘reflect’ on the decision.
He told The Sun: ‘The scheme is a brilliant innovation by the Government to help firms who can’t afford to get through this difficult period.
“It is not intended to help megarich individuals get taxpayers’ money.”
‘They should not be furloughing staff, they should be paying for it.’
It is expected that Chancellor Rishi Sunak will make the final decision on the future of the government’s COVID-19 furlough scheme this weekend, after previously saying that the scheme could be reduced from providing 80% of wages to 60%.
Forbes Life estimated in 2013 that the Hinduja home in London’s Carlton House Terrace down the Mall from Buckingham Palace to be worth as much as $500 million (over £400 million), making it the third most expensive private home in the world. The family occupies four connected homes bought from the Queen.
In 2014 they bought the old War Office building in Whitehall, which they are converting into a hotel.
The family’s business was created by their Mumbai-based father Parmanand Hinduja in 1914, who built Optare’s parent company is Ashok Leyland, a brand of Indian conglomerate, Hinduja Group.
Ashok Leyland had said that the company has been in trouble for some time anyway in a statement on Saturday night:
“Even if the pandemic had not happened, Optare might have had to lose 360 direct jobs and 1,000 indirect jobs in UK. The company chose to carry on under Ashok Leyland’s stewardship instead.”
“Globally automotive manufacturers are seeking and securing Government support during this unprecedented time to ensure short-term survival.”
“Rather than resorting to plant closure resulting in the loss of jobs, Optare is using the JRS to ensure business continuity while in lockdown.”
The latest statistics from the government show that 800,000 businesses have made applications for the furlough scheme, which covers over six million workers.
The scheme in its current form is set to expire at the end of June. Currently, firms can still claim 80% of a furloughed worker’s wages up to a monthly cap of £2,500.
Last week Victoria Beckham abandoned her plans to use taxpayer money at her fashion company in order to furlough 30 members of staff, which caused a great deal of controversy and backlash from the public.
The former pop star, whose family is worth £335 million, was planning to use the Government’s furlough scheme to pay 80% of the wages of some of her staff at Victoria Beckham Limited.
