ROADCHEF EMPLOYEES BENEFIT TRUST

That this House supports the development of employee share ownership, as such schemes reward loyalty and hard work and give employees a stake in their company; commends the Roadchef Employees Benefit Trust, established by Chief Executive Mr Patrick Gee in 1986, to give employees at Roadchef Motorway Services a John Lewis type scheme in such locations as Watford Gap, Strensham, Clacket Lane, Stafford, Killington Lake, Taunton Deane, Magor and Hamilton; notes with concern, however, that his successor Timothy Ingram Hill paid £10 million to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) as tax on Roadchef share sale proceeds of over £26 million, which he obtained in breach of trust; believes that these funds, and its interest belonged to the Trust, as the High Court ruled in 2014; agrees that this is a serious issue for the beneficiaries, many of whom were low-paid catering and cleaning staff, some of whom have sadly since passed away; and calls on the Government to review HMRC's position on this issue to ensure that, to the extent HMRC has the discretion to do so, that the Trust's money is repaid, so that 4,000 Roadchef beneficiaries can receive their just entitlements, of which the High Court has already found they were wrongly deprived.