Almost 90% of the UK workforce at telecoms company Lycamobile has been told they could lose their jobs, with more than 300 staff fearing for their roles shortly before Christmas, the Guardian reports.
The company, owned by billionaire Tory philanthropist and British-Sri Lankan businessman Alliraja Subhaskaran, sells pay-as-you-go SIM cards, popular with low-wage workers overseas as well as in the UK.
On Friday, staff at Lycamobile’s London headquarters were told the company was facing “generally serious challenges” and was planning to cut up to 316 jobs, with as few as 48 remaining in the UK.
Lycamobile lost £24m in 2022, the last year for which accounts are available, and its auditors have raised concerns about the opacity of the company’s books. It is locked in a protracted dispute with HMRC over an unpaid £51m VAT bill relating to phone “bundles” sold to consumers
