$40k Shrewsbury poker winner owes thousands to former staff in unpaid wages and holiday pay
The boss behind a Shropshire bus company who won thousands of pounds gambling in a Las Vegas poker tournament owes former employees thousands in unpaid wages and accrued holiday pay.
Andrew Martin's Drivers4U business, which distributed drivers to his other bus companies in France and the UK, was ordered to pay £4,544.91 to former employee Robert Campbell.
The judgement in June came at an employment tribunal presided by Judge Geraldine Flood at Birmingham Tribunal Court.
Official tribunal papers reveal money that is owed. Along with two of his other transport companies, The Skiers Lodge Ltd, now known as Transervis, and Express Airport Transfers Ltd, Mr Martin's firms were also ordered to pay £3,808.53 to former employee Stephen Bryce by Judge Flood on December 4.
Both claimants have said they are yet to be paid and have sought the help of DCBL bailiffs, known from Channel 5's Can't Pay? We'll Take It Away!
It comes after Mr Martin, of Shrewsbury, made headlines last month when he won $40,000 for his performance in a Las Vegas poker tournament with a $10,000 buy in.
The 55-year-old was gambling in a 10-day, 50th anniversary World Series of Poker (WSOP) tournament where he finished 190th out of 8,500 competitors.
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Mr Campbell said he was unhappy to see thousands of pounds being used to bet in Las Vegas when money was owed to creditors.
"I didn't really know how to react," he said.
"Especially considering he owes all this money to his old employees."
The 56-year-old, of Brackley, who now works as a HGV instructor, added: "I started working from November 2016 as an operations manager for his French operation, ChamExpress, and handed in my resignation to work until January 31, 2018, but once I came home my holiday pay was being withheld."
Another former employee, Mr Bryce, 40, who now works for a bus company in Ipswich, said: "There are people he owes money to and he's playing around with all this money in poker tournaments. It could be used to pay what he owes but that obviously hasn't happened."
Mr Martin, of Bicton Heath, had Transervis, formerly known as The Skiers Lodge Ltd, placed into liquidation earlier this year as documents published on the Companies House website show it owes more than £300,000.
He was also banned from holding an operator's licence by Nick Jones, the traffic commissioner for Wales, after a wheel fell off a bus while being driven on the A483 between Oswestry and Wrexham.
Mr Jones said Mr Martin had a "woeful lack of understanding" of the licensing of public service vehicles.
Mr Martin has been approached for comment.
