'Plusnet failed my brother' - family's anger after father-of-four who worked at firm's Sheffield HQ dies from coronavirus

Paul Matthewman, who had worked in customer services for the company since 2013, died with COVID-19 at Rotherham Hospital on April 28.

His brother David described him as a ‘brilliant father and a brilliant brother’ who he claims was let down by his employers after raising concerns about the risk of coronavirus infection at their city centre offices.

Thieves target two Sheffield care homes during coronavirus pandemic

David says Paul had asked to work from home but was told this was not possible.

His brother said he had complained to bosses about the lack of safety measures in place at the firm’s headquarters, claiming:

staff failed to observe two metre social distancing

employees were hot-desking and on more than one occasion Paul had to clean his desk due to the state it was left in by the previous user

Paul had to buy his own hand sanitiser as none was available at work.

“Paul was a brilliant father and a brilliant brother, who lived for his children and never said no to anybody,” said David.

UK to get millions of coronavirus vaccines by September if trials are successful

“Plusnet need to look after their staff better because as far as I'm concerned they failed my brother. He told me how many of his colleagues were raising concerns and their managers said they’d make a note of it but nothing happened.”

David told how Paul, who lived in Rawmarsh and travelled to work on the tram-train, had no known underlying health conditions.

He said his brother had been feeling run-down for a couple of weeks before he became sick and got diarrhoea, which he assumed was down to a stomach bug. Paul was admitted to hospital after he started having difficulties breathing.

A spokeswoman for Plusnet said: “Our colleague, Paul Matthewman, who worked in our contact centre in Sheffield has sadly passed away from COVID-19. His team have been fully informed and we are supporting them and Paul's family during this difficult time.

Wartime crane driver, aged 99, beats coronavirus at Sheffield care home

“Paul had been our colleague and a well-loved member of the Plusnet team for a long time and will be greatly missed by all of us. We offer our deepest condolences to his family and friends.”

The firm said Paul had last been in work on April 15 and was due to return from annual leave on April 20 but began self-isolating as he felt unwell.

It said social distancing, including one-way systems, had been in place since late March, along with additional time for handwashing, extra sanitisers for staff and a ‘significantly enchanced’ cleaning regime – all in line with guidance from Public Health England.

The Sheffield contact centre was visited and passed an Environmental Health Inspection on April 21, added Plusnet, which said more than 70 per cent of its staff there were now working from home.

The company also said that staff were being paid fully even if they needed to isolate.

Staff at Plusnet have previously complained about conditions at the Sheffield HQ during the lockdown, saying they felt ‘scared’ and sharing photos which appeared to show a lack of social distancing, but the internet provider has always defended the measures in place.