CAIO WYN AP RHYS, 20, TOOK HIS LIFE AFTER TELLING COAL EXCHANGE-OPERATOR SIGNATURE LIVING HE WAS ABOUT TO BE MADE HOMELESS DUE TO PAYROLL ERRORS.
THE COMPANY WENT ON TO ATTACK CAIO’S GRIEVING PARTNER AND THREATENED THE FAMILY OF THE DECEASED WITH LEGAL REPERCUSSIONS SHOULD THEY NOT KEEP QUIET.
MILLIONAIRE OWNER LAWRENCE KENWRIGHT HAD FUNDING FOR HIS NEW WELSH VENTURE FROM CARDIFF COUNCIL BEFORE GOING BUST DURING THE PANDEMIC, OWING THEM OVER £1 MILLION.
By Mark S Redfern @genericredfern
A young Cardiff man took his life after a pay-dispute with luxury hotelier Signature Living, who ran the recently out-of-business Coal Exchange hotel, his partner has told voice.wales.
Caio Wyn ap Rhys, 20, worked as a kitchen porter at The Exchange Hotel in Cardiff, a recently renovated historical building operated by Liverpool-based Signature Living.
The company – owned by multi-millionaire Lawrence Kenwright – has recently been blighted with problems due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Caio – pictured above with his partner – had been working at the Coal Exchange since September 2019 for a pay rate of £8.21 yet had continually been paid a lower rate which he had told Signature Living was putting him in financial difficulty.
“I would never had accepted this job had I have known it would have been £6.15,” Caio wrote in an email to Signature Living. “The reason I stuck out this job was because I was enjoying it and didn’t think a company would do this to me”.
The stress from his low wage had taken a toll on his mental state, his bereaved partner has told voice.wales, and he took his life shortly before an email from Signature Living payroll had asked him to a meeting about his back-pay. In an interview with voice.wales Melody – pictured- said that “the stress, the financial stress it put on us was unreal…When they didn’t pay his mood would just drop. He would cry for days about it, and I would have to pick him up and try and come up with a plan.”
In a copy of the contract signed by Caio dated 13th September 2019 he had told the company of his mental health problems, ticking a box on the form that highlighted previous nervous breakdowns and depression.
The contract also states the nominal rate of pay was £6.15 per hour, applicable for his age, “or at such higher rate” which had been stipulated on the front of the contract at the time of signing as £8.21 per hour.
Payslips from the time show his pay had later been adjusted to the agreed rate and some of the money already backdated, but only after months of negotiation and not the full amount owed.
Caio’s family say that Signature Living’s payroll blunders had taken a toll on his mental wellbeing and emails obtained by voice.wales demonstrate that he had made this known to the company.
In an email to the Signature Living payroll department on January 6th 2020, Caio told them: “I’ve lost my flat now due to sticking it out for MONTHS. I worked day in day out even on days where my mental health was awful, to have to find out I’m being underpayed [sic] and then have it be dragged out for months.”
Caio made it known in several more emails to the company that the pay discrepancies were affecting his living standards, telling them: “now I’m struggling, loosing my house [sic], council tax will take me to court.”
After Caio said he would get advice from a union his contact at Signature Living asked to see him and admitted the company’s mistake by promising back pay.
According to his partner however, this email arrived shortly after Caio took his life in the flat he shared with her in Roath, Cardiff.
The Coal Exchange put out a statement at the time rebuffing claims made by Caio’s partner on social media and named her individually, threatening legal action against her and anyone who spoke out about the issue.
The company said in a statement: “Anyone that makes defamatory comments about this matter or repeats the lies [Caio’s partner] has stated will be reviewed by our legal team.”
Signature Living also wrote on social media that Caio’s partner had called the police on him during a domestic matter, though his partner says this was unrelated to the situation and was due to his worsening mental health.
Clamping down on critics is something owner Lawrence Kenwright has done in the past. In November 2019 he attacked his brother in the press for speaking out against Signature Living, attempting to smear his critic by telling a BBC journalist his brother has been reported to the police for stalking which was later disproved.
Lawrence Kenwright was involved in Welsh politics whilst lobbying for access to the Coal Exchange building, hoping to renovate it into a luxury hotel much like his flagship properties in Liverpool city centre.
Kenwright gave a donation to Vaughan Gething’s leadership campaign, the MS who represents the Cardiff South and Penarth constituency in which the Coal Exchange lies, whilst he was in the running to be leader of Welsh Labour and First Minister of Wales, an amount that hasn’t been disclosed to the public.
His business specialises in acquiring historic disused buildings to transform them into high-price swanky hotels for tourists, at one time looking to take over the derelict Denbighshire mental asylum in North Wales to have porters in white coats take you to your room.
Over £1 million of public money was used to make the Coal Exchange safe before selling it to Kenwright for a bargain basement price of £1 for his company to renovate and profit from.
A loan of £2 million was approved for Signature Living from Cardiff Council despite the owner’ previous bankruptcy, and even though he already owed Cardiff Council £1.1 million for the emergency building work to make the Coal Exchange structurally safe.
Luckily for the council, the £2 million loan wasn’t transferred before the company went bust. But Cardiff Council are unlikely to see the other money returned any time soon as they are second-in-line to a much larger debtor.
Signature Living has been contacted for comment.
*An earlier version of this article included specific details regarding the events in question, this has now been amended.
