Contrary to the suggestion in Harvey, the answer to whether or not there has been a service provision change for the purposes of the 2006 TUPE Regulations is not dependent, as a pre-condition, on whether there was an organised grouping of employees carrying on the activities in point.
OCS Group UK Ltd provided a number of fully managed service contracts for workers on the BMW Mini assembly plant at Cowley, Oxford. The services included catering, cleaning, security and pest control. Mrs Jones and Miss Ciliza (who were bringing test cases as four other OCS employees were also involved) were employed by as chef/supervisors. They spent a great deal of their time in preparing hot meals for the Cowley plant workers.
OCS were losing money on the contract. They failed in attempts to renegotiate it and another company, MIS, took over the contract from 1st August 2007. In the words of the EAT "There was then, of course, an issue as to whether or not TUPE applied". If TUPE applied, the ladies' employment automatically transferred to MIS.
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