20 / 10 / 2025
Statement From the Directors re:- Northwich Guardian Article
Following an article in the Northwich Guardian dated 20/10/2025, we feel it is important to provide some background context. We would have been happy to provide this detail in advance of publication but we were not invited to comment. The suggestion that Bartec is a “rogue employer” is highly damaging and we have requested that this phrasing be withdrawn from the article.
We were notified of an underpayment on 24th March 2022 which came as a total surprise; the accumulative under payment arose because our clocking in and out system rounded down or up to the nearest full minute. In some instances, slight over payments were made which we have not sought to reclaim but, following closer investigation, we discovered that under payments had also been processed.
As soon as we were made aware of this problem, all the affected employees, both past and present, were recompensed immediately and the clocking system was reset to round up in all cases rather than down. Bartec paid the fine imposed on 28th March 2022 and the Inland Revenue accepted that we had resolved matters speedily and closed their investigation on 31st March 2022.
Bartec is a family-owned and family-run business and is proud that many of our employees have been with us for over 10 years. We have a very low turnover of staff and operate within a culture which encourages openness and team work. We have traded from our site in Northwich since 2002 providing flexible working patterns wherever possible. The directors, management and employees are extremely disappointed that the local newspaper proceeded with this article without providing us with an opportunity to comment. The facts on this case are on record and we recognise that a mistake was made. However, the speed with which we accepted responsibility and rectified the problem indicates that we are a responsible and conscientious business rather than a “rogue employer” which this article suggests.
We are awaiting a response from the publication on how this response will be reported.
If you have any questions we will be happy to answer them.
The Directors
Bartec Paper & Packaging
