Athlete forced to travel 800 miles for meeting that boss didn’t show up for wins £149,000
An athlete whose boss made him travel overnight to attend a meeting while he was at an international sporting event in Germany but did not attend himself has said the £149,000 compensation he received was “not just about me”.
Beth Littlewood, a former canoe polo champion, spent years tracking a series of complaints against Nuffield Health, where she worked as a personal trainer at a Bridgend gym.
He said he hoped the result would help thousands of personal trainers (PTs) across the country.
Nuffield Health said it was “committed to providing a fair and supportive working environment for all employees” but could not comment further due to the appeals process.
Littlewood, from Bridgend, first started working for Nuffield Health in 2015.
In an interview with BBC Wales following the conclusion of the employment tribunal, he said there had been “a lot of complaints about pay issues throughout my career”.
The initial problems were more easily resolved internally, but he later felt he had no choice but to escalate the case.
In July last year, an employment tribunal found that Littlewood’s complaints were all “well-founded”.
These included concerns about unauthorized deductions from his salary and holiday pay and unfair dismissal.
published decision He detailed how some of Littlewood’s wages had been withheld from June 2022.
He lodged a complaint, but it was not upheld and he said what followed was a series of bullying incidents, including rerouting without clear communication, inconsistency in dealing with holiday requests, lack of praise for successful PT sales and lack of promotion opportunities.
In January 2023 he was told he would face disciplinary proceedings; The firm claimed, among other things, that he reported hours worked under the wrong pay level.
But the tribunal found this was not the case, and the judge added: “The incidents mostly resulted from poor communication and were of such a minor nature that we concluded a reasonable employer would treat them as management issues.
“They should never have been elevated to this level. Common sense was completely abandoned.”
Littlewood represented himself at employment tribunal against Nuffield Health [David McBay/Paddle UK]
Following the disciplinary investigation, Littlewood had a period of sick leave.
In the summer of 2023, he made repeated attempts to meet with managers about returning to work, but managers did not contact him.
The “final straw” came when Littlewood traveled to Brandenburg, Germany, to compete in the European Canoe Polo Championships in September 2023.
He had requested annual leave on June 7 to cover his time off and had been open with his managers about his plans.
He stated that his leave had not yet been approved on 8 August, but that while he was in Germany on 7 September he did not receive a response until one of his managers, James Cheadle, told him that he did not have approved leave (annual leave or a valid sick note) and that he would need to attend the meeting in person on 12 September.
“The plaintiff returned from Germany during the night to ensure he was at the meeting, aware that he had received a final written warning,” the report said. The statement was included.
But when he arrived in Bridgend after traveling 800 miles, he was told Cheadle was not there and was away for training.
Littlewood believes his sports background has provided him with many of the skills needed to deal with the court process [David McBay/Paddle UK]
Judge Samantha Moore said: “If ever there was an action by the defendant that demonstrates his degrading treatment of the plaintiff, this is it.
“It was insulting and completely unreasonable to refuse permission requested months ago, knowing what the competition meant to the claimant and asking him to attend a meeting and then not bothering to attend.”
He added that Littlewood “made a considerable effort to attend a meeting and was under great pressure” and that Cheadle “did not have the decency to be at that meeting or to make arrangements for someone to meet him in his place”.
Littlewood, who represented himself at the employment tribunal, said the process was “really stressful”.
“When you’re in this state, you don’t know where to go, you don’t know what to do. A lot of time passed before you realized there was something more… an external body that was there to help you in these situations.”
“I had no legal training. I just had meticulous records that I kept.
“But I knew everything, I knew what was happening to me was wrong.”
A resolution hearing in February 2026 awarded Littlewood compensation totaling approximately £149,000 to cover all upheld claims.
But the real payoff, he said, was shedding light on Nuffield Health’s “systemic” miscalculation of PT holiday pay.
In his case, the court found that “holiday pay was not calculated based on the actual gross pay average or in accordance with government guidelines”.
“This case is not just about me,” he said, adding that the ruling could now be used “in any future court considering a similar case.”
“I won’t claim the process was easy. Doing this alone against a large employer with a full legal team behind them was years of my life and very tiring.
“What kept me going was knowing that if I could put all the written reasons on record (which are now public) it wouldn’t just be about me anymore.
“Nuffield has over 100 clubs across the UK and each of them has personal trainers who are entitled to holiday pay calculated on their current earnings.
“This is what was worth fighting for. I hope this helps hundreds and thousands of PTs across the country.”
Littlewood continues to live a busy and active life after retirement and has recently discovered her love for Hyrox fitness events. [Beth Littlewood]
However, he said there was extra pressure to balance his legal fight with his competitive sports commitments.
“It’s very difficult… I was the one questioning these managers in the stands. I had to put my emotions aside [about] This is my experience with managers.
“I actually think it helps being an athlete because you feel all these emotions, you feel all these things that come at you when you’re playing and you just have to perform.
“Whenever it was hard and I felt like throwing in the towel, I thought: No, I have to fight this because if I don’t fight this, who’s going to be in the corner fighting for all the PTs?
“Coming to the end of this whole experience, looking back now, I’m proud of all the work I’ve done.”
While he said he understands “it’s nice to get compensation” and hopes this win will help him move out of his parents’ home, he added that “justice would look like them doing the right thing.”
Littlewood left Nuffield after the Germany incident, and although the World Championships in China in 2024 will be his last canoe polo event for Great Britain, he said “you never really retire”.
“I’m still training, playing in the Spanish League, the Italian League and coaching the Danish women,” he said, adding that he also runs his own PT business.
Nuffield Health said it was “committed to providing a fair and supportive working environment for all employees, underpinned by clear policies and procedures.”
He added: “While we respect the court process, we are disappointed with the decision in this case. As this is a civil matter and subject to appeal, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.”
