A maintenance manager who was sacked for raising concerns about asbestos at homeless hotels in Glasgow has been awarded more than £23,000 by a tribunal – but will not receive a penny of his compensation.

William Stafford worked with Hill Glasgow Ltd, a hotel firm providing homeless accommodation at properties across the city.

He raised concerns about the presence of asbestos at the St Enoch Hotel on Howard Street and was eventually dismissed, with bosses giving no reason for the decision.

An employment tribunal found that he was sacked for raising health and safety concerns, but the firm entered administration just days after he was awarded a total of £23,331.57.

The company is now dissolved, meaning Mr Stafford is unlikely to see any of his award.

However, he believes that the owners of the business – Mukul Biswas and Adam Hussain - and their family members continue to operate the hotels under different companies.

Speaking to The Herald, Mr Stafford said: “I was dismissed right at the start of the Covid pandemic, I had no work for a year, no income. It caused me a lot of stress and anxiety.

“I was thrown into financial turmoil, I fell behind with my rent, credit cards, car insurance etc.

“Added to this, I had no sight of finding work during the pandemic.

“When I won my award it was a huge relief – only for it to be shattered by the non-payment. I am still trying to recover financially from this.”

Mr Stafford is now considering suing the tribunal service due to a delay in issuing him with a court document which would have allowed him to pursue the money using sheriff officers.

The extract decree was issued late just days before Hill Glasgow Ltd was dissolved, leaving Mr Stafford unable to pursue his claim against the firm.

The tribunal service has apologised for the delay and said it was due to “work pressures, reorganisation and the impact of the pandemic”.

Mr Stafford has been offered £250 as compensation, but he is now seeking civil legal aid to pursue a larger settlement.

He said: “I take no pleasure on doing this to the tribunal service but I missed out on my chance to try to get my money, so I feel I’ve got nowhere else to go with it.”

The tribunal heard that Mr Stafford started working with Hill Glasgow Ltd in August 2019.

In January the following year, he was overseeing renovation work at the St Enoch Hotel and became aware that the building did not have an asbestos register. The work to the building was stopped and Mr Stafford notified his boss who said that a survey would be carried out.

He was later told that the firm who had conducted the survey were fraudulent and had taken payment but never issued a report.

Mr Stafford contacted the company to find out if this was correct and was told that a report had been prepared and expressed concerns about the amount of asbestos in the building.

On March 30, 2020, he again raised concerns with bosses as work was due to start again at the hotel. He was dismissed the following day.

Employment judge Shona McLean said: “Given the age of the hotel, the renovations to be undertaken, and the concerns that had been expressed by the surveyor... the claimant had reasonable grounds for believing that there were circumstances harmful or potentially harmful to health and safety.”

The Herald tried to contact the former directors of Hill Glasgow Ltd but did not receive a response.

HM Courts and Tribunal Service said it could not comment.