Unpaid staff given hope as Metamorph firm wound up

The largest of the stable of failed Metamorph firms has officially been wound up in the court, giving hope to employees seeking to recoup unpaid wages.

Knowles Benning, which took on many of the files and staff from other practices in the Metamorph Group at the end of last year, was shut down by the SRA in December following an intervention. But the firm itself continued to exist and had yet to be declared insolvent, preventing staff from claiming money from the government’s redundancy payments service.

Following a hearing at the county court in Manchester earlier this month, Knowles Benning LLP was wound up. A petition to wind up the company had been presented in February by an individual creditor named as Andrew McBride. The head of personal injury at north-west firm Linder Myers Solicitors – another from the Metamorph stable shut down by the SRA last year – is named Andrew McBride, and the Gazette understands that he was the petitioner on behalf of dozens of other staff.

The winding-up order means eligible staff can make contact with the official receiver to request redundancy payments. 

An employment tribunal decision published yesterday shows that one former employee of Knowles Benning, listed as Mr D Cook, has already made a successful claim for monies owed to him after the firm failed to present a valid response in time.

Employment Judge D N Jones, sitting at Leeds, awarded Cook £2,868 for unpaid wages for November and December 2022, £1,700 for holiday entitlement, £535 for wages deductions for pension contributions that were not paid in, and £906 damages for breach of contract.

Meanwhile, the status of Metamorph Group itself remains uncertain. A compulsory strike-off action was suspended last week after an objection was received by the registrar.

Tony Stockdale, executive chairman of Metamorph, is the sole remaining director of the business but nothing has been heard from him since the start of SRA interventions.

Hampshire practice Beeton Edwards, another Metamorph firm, ceased trading with effect from 5 May. The firm states on its website that it is unable to provide legal advice or take on new matters and directs former clients wishing to obtain documents to email a gmail account. Aylesbury firm Parrott & Coales is now the only firm acquired by Metamorph still operating.