P&O Ferries: A Masterclass in Corporate Villainy (Now with Bonus PR Spin!)

How to Sack 800 Workers, Break the Law, and Still Afford a Fancy Ad Campaign

If there were an Oscars for Corporate Evil, P&O Ferries would be nominated every year. The company has managed to pull off some of the most breathtaking acts of worker exploitation in recent history—and they’re not even pretending to be sorry about it. But don’t worry! They’ve also been furiously pumping out cheerful ad campaigns, trying to convince the public that taking a P&O ferry is all sunshine and seagulls—while conveniently hoping everyone forgets about the time they illegally sacked 800 workers over Zoom.

So, let’s take a look at P&O’s greatest hits—a greatest hits album where the screams of fired workers are drowned out by upbeat adverts about "spacious accommodations".

Dirty Trick #1: The Redundancy Massacre—Now with Added Zoom Humiliation

March 2022. P&O Ferries sets a new low for corporate breakups by firing nearly 800 workers via a pre-recorded video message. No consultation, no notice, no dignity. Just “Hi, you’re sacked, good luck finding another job in this bin fire of an economy”—delivered with all the warmth of an automated Ryanair cancellation email.

Why? To replace them with agency workers being paid less than half the UK minimum wage—because nothing says "cost-cutting genius" like gutting a workforce and replacing them with people earning less than a Greggs sausage roll. Some of the new hires were reportedly on £4.87 an hour, which in Britain is illegal, but hey—why let pesky employment laws get in the way of a good old-fashioned Dickensian sweatshop revival?

And the best bit? P&O literally admitted they broke the law. Just flat-out owned it, like a cartoon villain monologuing about their evil plan. And what happened? Did justice strike like a bolt of lightning? Nope. Because when your parent company, DP World, has more money than some small nations, breaking the law is just a mild inconvenience—like spilling coffee on your luxury yacht.

Dirty Trick #2: Fire, Rehire, Repeat—But Skip the ‘Rehire’ Bit

P&O didn’t just pioneer the “fire and rehire” scam—they revolutionised it. In fact, they streamlined the whole process by skipping the ‘rehire’ part entirely and going straight to importing underpaid labour from overseas.

The scandal was so outrageous that even the UK government—famous for its relaxed approach to corporate wrongdoing—pretended to be outraged for a few days. The public was furious, MPs made dramatic speeches, and the media called for tough new laws.

And what happened? A pathetic "code of practice" was introduced, which basically amounts to telling corporations, "Naughty, naughty, don’t do it again… unless you really want to”. The "punishment" for companies breaking this so-called code? A slightly higher payout to sacked workers. A small price to pay when your CEO’s bonus is probably big enough to buy a private island.

Dirty Trick #3: The Minimum Wage Dodge—Now You See It, Now You Don’t

If you thought David Copperfield was a master illusionist, wait until you see P&O’s minimum wage disappearing act. Here’s the trick: Hire workers on ships registered overseas, then claim UK employment laws don’t apply.

Ta-da! Suddenly, wages can be slashed to poverty levels, and no laws are broken—at least not technically. And when the UK government pretended to act tough, P&O responded by laughing and handing their execs another round of fat bonuses. The result? A weak Seafarers’ Charter that isn’t even legally enforceable, meaning P&O can continue their “paying people in Monopoly money” strategy with zero consequences.

Dirty Trick #4: Safety? Overrated.

Who needs experienced, well-trained crews when you can hire cheap, undertrained workers who’ve barely stepped foot on a ship before? P&O’s cost-cutting measures didn’t just wreck lives—they jeopardised maritime safety too.

Unions sounded the alarm, pointing out that exhausted, underpaid workers with minimal training might not be the best people to handle life-and-death emergencies on open water. But don’t worry—P&O assured everyone that they were following all the relevant regulations, which is corporate-speak for "We’re technically obeying the bare minimum of the rules, so shut up".

Passengers might want to brush up on their swimming skills, just in case.

Dirty Trick #5: The Endless Corporate Spin—AKA Gaslighting, But With More PowerPoint Slides

P&O’s corporate PR team deserves a raise, because somehow they’ve managed to spin this entire scandal into a “necessary business decision”—as if firing 800 people illegally was just a fun little restructuring exercise.

And in case you were wondering, yes, P&O is still spending a fortune on advertising to make everyone forget about this whole fiasco.

In 2023, they launched the “There is Another Way” campaign, which tried to convince people that ferries were better than planes and trains. To drive home the point, they slapped posters near airports and train stations, hoping to lure travellers with promises of spacious cabins and no luggage restrictions—conveniently leaving out the bit where the company had illegally sacked its entire workforce.

By 2024, they’d ramped up the propaganda with the “All Aboard” campaign, featuring two 30-second TV ads designed to showcase how magical the ferry experience is. (Because nothing says “fun and relaxation” like a company with a history of dodging employment laws.)

And did these ads air on Channel 4 (C4)? We don’t have direct confirmation, but previous P&O campaigns have aired on ITV and Sky, so it’s highly likely they splashed their nonsense across multiple channels—including C4.

The P&O Legacy: Breaking The Law Pays (If You Have Enough Lawyers)

So, what’s the moral of the P&O Ferries saga? Simple:

You can fire 800 workers illegally
You can replace them with staff earning less than UK minimum wage
You can admit to breaking the law
And absolutely nothing will happen to you

Instead of consequences, P&O gets TV ads, poster campaigns, and a lovely PR makeover—while their executives laugh all the way to the bank. A ferry tale without a happy ending—unless you’re a billionaire.

Still here? Well, you’ve made it through P&O’s corporate horror show—so why not subscribe? It won’t bring back the 800 illegally fired workers, but it might stop P&O from using their ad budget to gaslight us all into thinking ferries are magical floating wonderlands.

Think of it as your personal act of resistance—or at the very least, a way to make sure you don’t miss the next deep dive into corporate villainy, government incompetence, and PR spin so brazen it should come with a warning label.

Go on, hit subscribe. It’s more legally binding than P&O’s promises.