Calvey Taylor-Haw
Calvey Taylor-Haw, an inventor and entrepreneur who designed and built the first electrical charging points in the UK is suing BP Chargemaster for unfair dismissal and the resultant loss of just over £1 million worth of share options he had in the company.
Calvey Taylor-Haw, a pioneer in the electric vehicle sector founded his first electric vehicle charging company in 2003, and in 2005 set up the first commercial electric car charging stations in London. This business became the UK’s largest network and provider of electric vehicle charging in London and the Northeast of England, as well as installing chargers in other areas across the UK. He also worked on pilot electric vehicle charging projects in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Australia.
In January 2017, he sold this business to Chargemaster and as part of the transaction he was given valuable share options. The management and shareholders of Chargemaster sold the business to BP in June 2018 for £120 million.
Immediately, after Chargemaster acquired Calvey Taylor-Haw’s business, the management team at Chargemaster, led by David Martell, who recently left BP Chargemaster, began to undermine Calvey Taylor-Haw’s position in the new business leading to his unfair dismissal. He was asked to develop new and important business areas to supply electric vehicle chargers to the home and small and medium sized businesses; and car leasing companies. Five months into this new role in August 2017, he was told this position was to be made redundant. Today BP Chargemaster leads on its website displaying it has installed over 40,000 Homecharge units confirming the importance and growth potential of this expanding business area. During his redundancy he was repeatedly told he would be allowed to keep his share options. When the business was sold to BP, he discovered his share options had been taken away. Calvey Taylor-Haw left the business in October 2018 after he had served his notice and initiated his legal action against BP Chargemaster.
An Employment Tribunal hearing will take place on 28/29 August 2019.
Jane Mann, a Partner at Fox Williams, a leading employment lawyer said: “We will be arguing for Calvey Taylor-Haw that there is clear evidence that he was unfairly dismissed and wrongfully deprived of his share options. His position was undermined and there was no proper consultation during his redundancy.”
Calvey Taylor-Haw said: “I am disappointed BP have failed to recognise my unfair dismissal. Chargemaster was a valuable and desirable business when it was sold to them. Either David Martell, CEO of Chargemaster failed to tell them about my options or BP decided to break this commitment.”
