IT workers dumped by Scots cybersecurity firm awarded £500,000 payout

IT workers dumped by a Scottish cybersecurity firm have won over half a million pounds in compensation.

Edinburgh-based Adarma, founded in 2009, employed 176 staff across its offices in Scotland and London, of whom 173 were made redundant in July 2025 when the firm entered administration.

This came after Scottish Enterprise awarded the company a £2m grant, with the company pledging to create 50 new jobs within three years.

STV News reported last year that staff would not be paid for work carried out in July and would have to claim unpaid wages through the Government’s Redundancy Payments Service.

80 former workers enlisted the help of Thompsons Solicitors Scotland, who are experts in the Protective Awards, a legal procedure that allows employees who are sacked without notice to secure compensation.

The company’s Protective Awards Unit previously helped former employees of Stewart Milne Builders in Aberdeen when the firm went bust, as well as workers at an Ayrshire warehouse, owned by businessman Mike Ashley, who were sacked with 15 minutes’ notice.

Paul Kissen, solicitor of Thompsons Scotland, said: “The employees of Adarma were assured repeatedly that new owners were being courted. Instead, without warning, the company entered administration, which led to dozens of employees being dismissed with no notice and being owed huge amounts in unpaid wages.

“Sadly, this type of scenario is all too common today. My team were very pleased to represent many of the workers and secure this compensation for them.”

A former Adarma employee, Ross, thanked the firm for the “huge difference” it made in the lives of those who benefited from the compensation award.

He said: “The staff at the company were a very tight-knit group who were absolutely devastated when we lost our jobs.

“It really was a stab to the heart as we’d been reassured that all was in hand with potential new owners. In the aftermath of the job losses, we had no idea that we could take legal action to recover some of the money owed to us.

“We were told Thompsons could help, and I would like to thank Paul and his team for making such a huge difference to our lives at a really bad time for us.”