Exhibit 10.2
26 February 2009
Malcolm Wall
[ADDRESS INTENTIONALLY OMITTED]
WITHOUT PREJUDICE & SUBJECT TO
CONTRACT
Dear Malcolm,
Compromise Agreement
I refer to our discussions concerning the
termination of your employment with Telewest Communications Group
Limited (“the Company”) by reason of redundancy.
The purpose of this Agreement is to set out the terms which the
Company is prepared to offer you and which are as
follows:
1
Your employment
with the Company will terminate on 5 th April 2009
(“the Termination Date”).
2.1
Until the
Termination Date you will continue to perform and observe your
current duties and obligations under your Contract of
Employment and such other duties and/or directions as
the Company reasonably requests (having regard to your contractual
role status and responsibilities.
2.2 In the event that during the period from the
date hereof up to the Termination Date (“the Interim”)
you are found guilty of gross misconduct entitling the Company to
terminate your employment without notice and without payment in
lieu of notice (“Justification”), this Agreement shall
thereupon cease to have effect.
2.3 In the event that during the Interim the
Company terminates your employment without Justification the
Company shall pay you a sum equivalent to the value of the salary
and benefits you would have received during the Interim and pay and
provide the payments and benefits due to you hereunder on and after
the Termination Date.
3
Subject to paragraph 2.2 above, on
the next available payroll run in April after the Termination
Date the Company will pay to you all outstanding payments owed to
you in respect of your basic salary and other contractual benefits
up to and including the Termination Date (less income tax and
employee’s national insurance and your pension
contributions).
Subject to the Company’s
receipt of this Agreement signed by you and your independent
advisor by the Termination Date, you will also be paid the
following payments less any tax and national insurance and pension
contributions:
3.1
A sum in lieu of
(at the date of this agreement) 5 (five) days’ of accrued,
but untaken holiday pro rata to the Termination Date.
3.2
£10,800 (ten thousand eight
hundred pounds) in respect of car allowance payments that would
have been paid to you during your notice period.
3.3
Subject to the rules of the
pension scheme, to its registered status not being prejudiced and
to such limits on (and other provisions relating to) contributions
and benefits (and/ or the tax relief thereon) as apply from time to
time in accordance with, as the Scheme may be, the Scheme’s
own rules or the prevailing practice of HM Revenue &
Customs or the provisions of the Finance Act 1984, the Company will
procure that a payment of £14,850 (fourteen thousand and
eight hundred and fifty pounds) is made to the trustees or managers
of the pension scheme, to augment your benefits from it, in lieu of
the Company’s contributions which would have otherwise been
made on or after the Termination Date in respect of your membership
of it. At the Termination Date, you will receive
£47,350 (forty seven thousand three hundred and fifty pounds)
(being the Company’s pension contributions in excess of the
salary cap) paid in cash, to the extent that you have not already
elected by notice in writing that the whole or part of that amount
shall be paid by the Company into the scheme. Any payment
into the Scheme by the Company hereunder is conditional upon and
subject to you making payment to the scheme of £18,562.50
(eighteen thousand and five hundred and sixty two pounds and 50
pence) in respect of your the pension contributions you would
otherwise have made during the notice period.
3.4
£360,500 (three hundred and
sixty thousand and five hundred pounds) representing the salary
that would have been paid to you during your notice
period.
3.5
All payments under paragraphs
3.1-3.4 above will be paid into the bank account into which your
salary is normally paid on the next available payroll run in
April following the Termination Date and after your
Form P45 has been issued.
4.
The Company
further agrees to pay you by way of compensation for the
termination of your employment and you agree to accept the sum of
£103,990.38 (one hundred and three thousand and nine hundred
and ninety pounds and 38 pence). This payment will be paid into the
bank account into which your salary is normally paid on the next
available payroll run in April following the Termination Date
and after the issue of your Form P45. The first
£30,000 (thirty thousand pounds) of the monies paid under
this paragraph will be paid without deduction of tax or
national insurance. The Company will
deduct tax at the basic rate from the balance of any payment over
£30,000 (thirty thousand pounds) and pay this to HMRC. This
payment will be made subject to the Company’s receipt
of this Agreement signed by you and your independent adviser by the
Termination Date. Other than the tax and national insurance
to be deducted by the Company, you will indemnify the Company in
respect of any further income tax or employee’s national
insurance and in respect of any interest and/or any penalties
thereon for which the Company has to account to HMRC) in respect of
this payment or the other payments to be made or benefits provided
to you
under this
Agreement (save where such interest and/or penalties result
directly from any delay on the part of the Company or are in
respect of income tax or employee’s national insurance
contributions already deducted at source by the Company).
However, it is agreed that no such payment of income tax,
employee’s national insurance contributions, interest or
penalty will be made to HMRC without particulars of the relevant
assessments or demands and of any proposed payment being sent to
you promptly at the above address. The Company shall at your
request take such steps as you reasonably request (including at
your expense) appealing the same to contest any such assessment or
demand and give you all reasonable co-operation in connection
therewith.
5
The Company will maintain private
medical and dental insurance on the same terms on which you and
your family currently enjoy these benefits subject to the
rules of the scheme for a period of twelve months from the
Termination Date or until the date on which you take up full time
employment with another employer whichever is earlier.
6
The Company will make a pro-rated
payment of bonus in respect of the bonus year in which termination
takes place (“the Relevant Bonus Year”). This
will be pro-rated to reflect the period of the Relevant Bonus Year
from its commencement until the Termination Date. The payment
will be made at the same time as bonus payments are made generally
in respect of the Relevant Bonus Year (which is usually in the
March following the end of a bonus calendar year) and the pro
rata bonus will be determined fairly and in good faith applying as
appropriate the established financial performance criteria which
relate to you and your peers, but subject always to the terms
applicable to the relevant bonus scheme (except any which would
normally preclude your entitlement to a pro rata bonus).
7
The Company confirms that you will
be treated as a Good Leaver terminated by virtue of redundancy in
relation to the vesting of any share options, restricted stock and
long-term incentive plan (“LTIP”) entitlements and that
it will make or procure the making of recommendations to the
Compensation Committee in respect of its exercise of its discretion
to permit you to benefit from any such vesting which would have
occurred, and the additional period you would have had for exercise
of options, if you had remained employed for a further 12 months
(your current notice entitlement) and that such recommendations
shall be fair and reasonable in all the circumstances (although for
the avoidance of doubt the Compensation Committee shall not be
bound to follow those recommendations). For the avoidance of doubt
the Company agrees that the third and final tranche of your
Restricted Stock due to vest on 1 January 2009 will vest
subject to the achievement of any applicable performance criteria
and the terms of such Restricted Stock.
8
You authorise the Company to deduct
any sums due to the Company from you from the monies payable under
this Agreement.
9
You should submit your final
expenses claim, if any, made up to the Termination Date within 14
days of the Termination Date. You will be reimbursed for all
expenses reasonably incurred by you in the proper performance of
your duties in accordance with normal Company
guidelines.
10
You confirm that you will return by
the Termination Date to the Company; all books, documents, papers,
computer discs and other media (including
copies), credit cards, keys,
computers, mobile telephones and all other property in whatever
format belonging to or relating to the business of the Company or
any Group Company or any of their suppliers, agents or
clients. You further confirm you will immediately delete on
the Termination Date from the hard disk of any personal computer
used by you (except computers in the Company’s ownership,
possession or control) all documents and information belonging to,
obtained from, or prepared for the Company or any Group Company or
any of their respective customers or clients.
11
Protection of the Company’s
business interests:
11.1
You acknowledge that following
termination of your employment you will be in a position to compete
unfairly with the Telewest Group as a result of the confidential
information, trade secrets and knowledge about the business,
operations, customers, suppliers and employees of the Telewest
Group you have acquired and through the connections that you have
developed at the expense of the Telewest Group. You agree to
enter into the restrictions in this Clause 11 for the purpose of
protecting the Telewest Group’s legitimate business interests
and in particular the confidential information, goodwill and the
stable trained workforce of the Telewest Group.
11.2
You shall not during the Restricted
Period without the prior written consent of the Company (such
consent not to be unreasonably withheld) work for or
with:
11.2.1
any Competing Business in the United
Kingdom; or
11.2.2
any person or business that is
contemplating, intending or making an offer to acquire an interest
in the shares or business of any Group Company, or any part of it,
directly or indirectly, or in any business that might be assisting,
advising or financing such business in such offer.
In this Clause
11.2, to “work for or with” means to set up, carry on,
be employed in, provide services to, be associated with, or be
engaged or interested in (whether as a director, employee,
principal, agent or otherwise), provided that nothing in this
Clause 11.2 shall restrict you from owning up to 3% of the
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