The boss of P&O Ferries was accused of being a “modern-day pirate” as he appeared before MPs on Tuesday.
The ferry firm’s chief executive was criticised during an appearance before the Commons business and trade select committee over the redundancy of almost 800 seafarers two years ago while replacing them with agency staff and his decision to accept a £183,000 bonus to his £325,000 salary while some crew earn less than £5 an hour.
Appearing before the committee, which is conducting an inquiry into workers’ rights, Peter Hebblethwaite was asked whether he was “basically a modern-day pirate” while P&O Ferries was described as “a byword for terrible employment practices driving the race to the bottom”.
Responding to questioning about the job cuts, he said: “We have to acknowledge that without that difficult decision P&O would not be here today and we would not have been able to preserve the 2,000 jobs we have been able to preserve.”
In his second appearance before the committee since the redundancies, he admitted that some staff were paid as low as £4.87 an hour.
When asked by committee chair, Labour MP Liam Byrne, whether he could live on £4.87 an hour, Hebblethwaite admitted that he couldn’t.
When asked: “Why do you think your staff should live on that?”, he replied: “These are international seafarers who our crewing agent is recruiting from an international field and we pay substantially above the international seafaring wage.”
Hebblethwaite insisted that the company was paying “considerably above” the minimum international standard and it had no problem with recruitment and staff retention.
“We offer seafarer welfare on board that is second to none,” he pointed out, adding that the company would never make a similar decision on mass redundancies again even though it was legal.
An investigation by the Insolvency Service decided in August 2022 not to begin criminal proceedings after concluding that there was no likely prospect of a conviction.
Hebblethwaite told MPs that a second investigation initiated by the government remained outstanding but “we remain as confident of the second outcome as we were the first”.
He added: “We throughout this sought extensive legal advice that confirmed that this decision was legal. That is not to say that I don’t regret it. I regret it. And I am deeply sorry for the impact it had on 786 seafarers and their families. I wish we’d never had to make that decision.”
Referring to his bonus, Hebblethwaite said he had “reflected on accepting that payment. But ultimately I did decide to accept it. And I do recognise that is not a decision that everybody would have made. And I do recognise there are people in this room who would not have made the same decision, but it is the decision that I made.”