A FORMER employee of millionaire ex-Premier League owner and horse racing kingpin Terry Ramsden says he has ruined her life.
Scarlet Hewett, 29, is thousands of pounds in debt after a company fronted by the mulleted entrepreneur failed to pay her for months – and is now at risk of becoming homeless.
David DysonScarlet Hewett is owed thousands of pounds by SBS Group Ltd[/caption]
YouTube/Star SportsFormer Premier League investor Terry Ramsden is thought to be in Dubai[/caption]
AlamyRamsden, pictured in 1986, previously invested in Premier League club Chelsea and owned Walsall FC[/caption]
She worked in admin for SBS Group Ltd, which lists Ramsden, 72, as director on Companies House, for around 12 months before successfully taking the firm to court over unpaid wages.
But it has never paid a penny of the £6,500 ordered by a tribunal in June 2023, with Ramsden understood to be now living in Dubai.
The businessman – who previously had a 30% stake in Chelsea FC and fully owned Walsall FC – told staff to call him “the extra terrestrial”, according to Scarlet.
Meanwhile, she has fallen into rent arrears and has been diagnosed with painful fibromyalgia, which she believes was brought about by the stress of chasing down her money, and is having ongoing therapy for her mental health.
“He needs to be brought to justice, it’s just disgusting – he’s ruined my life,” she told The Sun.
Scarlet began working for SBS in Liverpool Street, London, in May 2022, mostly to answer the phones.
But the chaotic nature of the job – including organising baffling boxfuls of paperwork and online files – “nearly gave me a nervous breakdown”, she said.
Scarlet added: “I was hired to answer the phones, initially, but the phones would never ring.”
The salary was £28,000 but after around eight months, she says the company suddenly stopped paying her at all – and she only continued working there in the hope of getting the money owed to her.
Scarlet said by the end, she had refused to do any more filing and often worked from home – though continuously messaged and rang Ramsden asking for her pay.
“It just didn’t seem like any job I’d ever had,” she explained.
“I then felt scared to leave the job, even though I wasn’t getting paid. Eventually I had to put a stop to it and said ‘I’m taking you to court’.”
She continued: “I’d sit and tremble and want to cry, and I’d just think ‘this man…but I need my wages and need to pay my rent’.”
She said there was only a handful of other staff, with the company initially based at an office above The Ivy restaurant before moving across the street soon after she started.
Scarlet said she had no idea who Ramsden was when she went for the interview, describing him as a “bit showy and talking a lot about himself”.
“I’ve worked in other corporate places and you do get that sometimes… I thought ‘it’s fine, I need a job and it’s close to where I live.
“‘What’s the worst that can happen in a professional setting?’ If only I’d known.”
She said Ramsden still had his famous mullet but it looked “dishevelled”.
“He used to call himself the extra terrestrial. He’d want to be called that. ‘I’m out of this world, baby, I’m extra terrestrial’.”
Scarlet represented herself at the tribunal hearing on June 20 2023, which was held online, and SBS failed to send any representation.
In a judgement document seen by The Sun, it is stated Scarlet “suffered unlawful deductions from her wages in the sum of £6,574.99”, and she had not been paid for the months of February through to May 2023.
The respondent was subsequently ordered to pay the sum, which took into account tax deductions.
It also stated the company “failed to respond” to the “tribunal’s communications or to the claimant”.
Who is Terry Ramsden?
Terry Ramsden, from Enfield, North London, is an investor and gambler who became a millionaire in the 1980s through horse betting and the Japanese stock market.
Born into a working class family and leaving school at 16, he grew his initial fortune with lower stakes betting.
He struck big in 1984 when he paid £500,000 for a horse named Katies days before the Irish 1,000 Guineas at Curragh.
Despite being at odds of 20 to 1, the horse won and Ramsden pocketed around £2.5million.
In the same year he purchased Edinburgh-based firm Glen International and within three years it was making a turnover of £3.5billion.
Ramsden, 72, was during this period the UK’s 57th richest man, with an alleged peak net worth of approximately £150million.
In the mid to late 80s he used horse racing and the Japanese stock market to grow his wealth substantially.
At one point he owned over 100 horses and started a record company called Influx Records.
He also had a 30% stake in now-Premier League football club Chelsea and owned Walsall FC.
The 1987 stock market crash and Japanese asset price bubble burst coincided with big losses on the racetrack and Ramsden’s fortune was dented to the tune of around £100million.
In 1991 he was jailed in LA for six months while awaiting extradition to the UK for fraud, and declared bankruptcy in 1993.
The same year he pleaded guilty to recklessly inducing fresh investments into Glen International and was given a two-year suspended sentence.
In 1997 Ramsden breached the Insolvency Act after hiding £300,000 worth of assets and served 10 months in prison.
After his release he created a equities trading system, which grew to be worth £250million.
In 2003 he was cleared by the Jockey Club to own and race horses again and in the same year his horse Jake The Snake won a maiden stakes race at Lingfield.
Ramsden has a son named Jake and an ex-wife Lisa.
In his heyday, the businessman was the quintessential self-made man of the Thatcherite era.
Standing at just 5’4″ tall and with his trademark mullet, he became something of an icon of Britain in the 1980s.
He’s quoted as once saying: “I’m a stockbroker from Enfield. I’ve got long hair and I like a bet.”
However, it added that 15 minutes before the start of the hearing, SBS sent an email “saying it would not be attending” and gave the reason “it was only a small company without an HR team”.
The document goes on to say, in the same email the company stated it had “repeatedly told” Scarlet and two other named employees “that the only reason they had not been paid was that there was no funds and that as soon as there were funds, expected soon, they would be paid in full up to date”.
The judgement goes on to describe how Scarlet had been in “severe financial anxiety since February 2023, in overdraft and at risk of losing her rented accommodation”.
It adds: “She has repeatedly tried to contact the Respondent in every way possible but without success.”
And: “The Respondent has repeatedly promised payment ‘next week’ but this has never materialised.”
The document said the tribunal was “satisfied” with the evidence seen, including the SBS email “which appears to admit liability” over the unpaid wages, adding: “Judgement is given accordingly.”
Scarlet has also since had to go to another court hearing in a bid to not be left homeless.
“I nearly lost my flat, I had to go to court to save my flat and pay my bills. I’m in so much debt now,” she explained.
“What he’s done, if you could see me, I am a shell of the person I was.
“Working for him has shaken me, like a domino effect.”
She added: “For a young girl, to ruin my life this much, and I’m really struggling to get back on my feet because of the trauma of this man.”
The Sun has attempted to contact Ramsden for comment.
David DysonScarlet represented herself in court[/caption]
RexRamsden in his heyday was one of Britain’s richest people[/caption] Creator – [#item_custom_dc:creator]
