Athlete wins £149k after boss made her travel 800 miles for meeting he skipped

An athlete whose boss required her to travel through the night from Germany to attend a meeting, then failed to appear himself, has said her £149,000 tribunal award is not only about her case.

Beth Littlewood, a former canoe polo champion, spent years pursuing grievances against Nuffield Health, where she worked as a personal trainer at its Bridgend gym. She said she hoped the outcome would help thousands of personal trainers across the country.

Nuffield Health said it was committed to providing a fair and supportive working environment for all colleagues but could not comment further because of an appeal process.

Littlewood, from Bridgend, began working for Nuffield Health in 2015. In an interview with BBC Wales after the tribunal concluded, she said there were multiple grievances throughout her career about pay-related issues. Early problems were resolved internally, but she later felt she had no choice but to escalate.

In July last year, an employment tribunal found her complaints were all well-founded. These included unauthorised deductions from wages and holiday pay, and unfair dismissal.

The published judgment detailed how, from June 2022, parts of Littlewood's pay were withheld. She submitted a grievance that was not upheld. What followed, she said, was a series of bullying incidents, including changed rotas without clear communication, inconsistent holiday requests, no praise for successful sales and a lack of promotion opportunities.

In January 2023, she was told she would face disciplinary proceedings. The firm claimed she had submitted hours under an incorrect pay level. The tribunal found this was not the case. Judge Samantha Moore said the incidents were mainly caused by poor communication and were trivial. A reasonable employer would have handled them as management issues, she said, adding that common sense was wholly departed from.

After the disciplinary investigation, Littlewood had time signed off sick. Over the summer of 2023, she tried repeatedly to speak to managers about returning to work, but they did not engage.

The last straw came when Littlewood travelled to Brandenburg, Germany, to compete in the European Canoe Polo Championships in September 2023. She had requested annual leave on 7 June and had been open with managers about her plans. She flagged on 8 August that the leave had not been approved, but received no reply until 7 September, while she was in Germany. Manager James Cheadle told her she did not have approved leave and must attend a meeting in person on 12 September.

The claimant drove back through the night from Germany to make sure she was at the meeting, the report stated. When she arrived in Bridgend after travelling 800 miles, she was told Cheadle was away on training.

Judge Moore said the refusal of leave requested months earlier, knowing what competing meant to the claimant, and then requiring her to attend a meeting only for the manager not to turn up, was contemptuous and wholly unreasonable. Littlewood had made considerable effort under considerable duress to attend, she said, and Cheadle did not have the courtesy to be there or to arrange for someone else to meet her.

Littlewood, who represented herself, said the process was really stressful. She had no legal training and relied on meticulous records she had kept. She said she knew what happened to her was wrong.

In February 2026, a remedy hearing ordered that Littlewood be paid about £149,000 in compensation. For her, the real win was in exposing what the tribunal found was the systemic miscalculation of personal trainer holiday pay by Nuffield Health. The tribunal found that in her case the holiday pay was not calculated on a true average of gross pay or in accordance with government guidelines.

This case is not just about me, she said. The judgment could now be used in any future tribunal considering a similar case. Nuffield has over 100 clubs across the UK, and personal trainers in every one are entitled to holiday pay calculated on their available earnings, she said.

Littlewood left Nuffield after the Germany incident. The World Championships in China in 2024 was her last canoe polo event for Great Britain. She said you never really retire. She is still training, playing in the Spanish and Italian leagues, coaching the Danish ladies team and running her own personal training business.

Nuffield Health said it was disappointed with the decision and respects the tribunal process. As the matter remains subject to appeal, it would not be appropriate to comment further, the company said.