Dozens Of Staff Are Left Without Pay Or Visas Following The Withdrawal Of Axe House’s Major Investor

Axe House has been closed for nearly two weeks, with mystery surrounding the abrupt ‘closed for maintenance’ signs being put up at the last minute.

And it turns out, Axe House has had a tumultuous few months, following its handover from Cocktail Kitchen to Axe back in 2017, and subsequent investment changes.

Axe House closed its doors on September 23 – with no warning, simply stating it was ‘closed for emergency maintenance’

And it turns out, it wasn’t maintenance per se – rather a financial and legal battle, in which the major investor in the property has pulled the plug (and the money) on the bar, leaving nearly 50 people unpaid with no visas.

Staff were told at a meeting last week that the 22 days they worked in September would be unpaid – and they had three options:

1) Cancel visas and look for work elsewhere

2) Transfer visas into the new ownership

3) Pursue legal action for 22 days of work that is unpaid, loss of gratuity and benefits.

Axe House was previously operated under the licence named KOJI DMCC – one that was the same licence for the prior venue, Cocktail Kitchen

It looks as though Axe House was never fully licenced under DMCC, rather just piggy backing on the Cocktail Kitchen licence for holding company, KOJI.

And now staff have been asked to sign that they resign from KOJI and sent new contracts from Ledingham Drake Solutions.

The contracts explicitly state that ‘no employment with previous group or affiliated companies counts as consecutive employment unless expressly stated’ – essentially voiding any gratuity or flight allowance staff members had accrued under the previous business.

At the meeting, staff were told that Armada, the hotel and landlord of the property, would be reclaiming ownership of the venue – with Ledingham Drake Solutions managing the property.

Staff were also told they have the three options – but pursuing legal action against the business would be to no avail ‘because there isn’t anything in it’.

The landlord at Armada Blue Bay has reclaimed the space and will now operate the business as Axe House

With Ledingham Drake Solutions managing the outlet.

It’s announced that the bar will reopen on October 11.

Ledingham Drake Solutions and Armada Blue Bay have been approached for comment.