A HALAL poultry slaughterhouse on the outskirts of Barnsley has racked up a £65,000 legal bill for repeatedly using bread baskets belonging to another company.
Al-Ummah Halal Poultry Ltd, of Old Colliery Farm, Main Street, South Hiendley, has agreed to pay an additional £18,000 in costs and damages to Bakers Basco, a firm which looks after more than four million bread baskets and wheeled dollies used under licence by some of the country’s biggest bakery firms, including Warburtons, Hovis, and Barnsley’s own Foster’s Bakery.
The latest agreement in the long-running dispute was the result of a mediation meeting between the Al-Ummah, Bakers Basco’s management, legal teams for both and an independent mediator, after Bakers Basco issued a new claim for additional costs and damages against the poultry company.
Al-Ummah is currently subject to an indefinite restraining injunction, issued last May, to prevent it converting Bakers Basco equipment for its own uses.
So far, Al-Ummah has already paid £47,522.53 in damages and costs.
Steve Millward, general manager at Bakers Basco, said: “I do not understand why some companies continue to take our equipment without permission.
“In this case, the defendants have been caught red-handed on multiple occasions yet here we are again, having to pursue legal action to protect our property and get some kind of compensation.
“If someone took your car without permission and drove around in it, you’d call the police. Why should it be any different when people use our equipment without permission?”
As part of the latest agreement, Al-Ummah will provide Bakers Basco with a copy of a letter sent to all employees informing them of the May 2017 injunction, and warning of disciplinary proceedings if they knowingly allow it to be breached.
The firm will also have to show evidence of signs at Al-Ummah’s premises in both English and any language commonly used by employees that Bakers Basco equipment is not to be allowed onto the Al-Ummah’s premises, and that premises are secured each night to prevent third parties dumping Bakers Basco’s equipment there.
Al-Ummah also agreed to allow Bakers Basco’s recovery officers to attend for audit purposes without appointment.
“Our baskets and dollies are designed for one sole purpose to allow the bakeries which are members of our scheme to transport bread safely, cost-effectively and in an environmentally-friendly way,” said Mr Millward. “When people divert them for their own use, it not only has a knock-on effect on the bakers that pay to license them but also on retailers and, at the end of the day, Joe Public, all of whom end up footing the bill for the actions of a small minority.”
He added that equipment belonging to Bakers Basco and its membership is clearly marked as each company’s property.
“Usually, when it becomes aware that its equipment is being used without permission, a simple request to return the items is enough. Ordinarily, Bakers Basco will pursue legal action as a last resort.
“The company much prefers dialogue to resolve matters, in the hope they can re-educate third parties and convince them not to misappropriate their equipment. It is only if a party has refused to act reasonably that matters are escalated.”
Bakers Basco was set up to manage and license a pool of four million bread baskets and wheeled dollies for the use of bakers. This allows for sharing of costs, a common design which optimises space in delivery vehicles and reduces food miles, and less waste from disposable packaging ending up in landfill.
About 25 bakeries pay a licence fee to use the equipment.
Nobody was available for comment at Al-Ummah.
