Athlete forced to travel 800 miles for meeting that boss didn't show up for wins £149,000

The £149,000 compensation is not about me, says an actress whose boss made her travel through the night to attend a meeting in Germany during an international sports tournament.

Beth Littlewood, a former canoe polo champion, suffered a string of grievances against Nuffield Health, the company she worked for as a personal trainer at the company's Bridgend gym.

She expressed her displeasure with the decision, saying she hoped that it would benefit thousands of personal trainers (PTs) around the country.

Nuffield Health said it was

committed to providing a fair and supportive working environment for all employees,

But it was unable to comment further due to an appeal process.

Littlewood, a Bridgend man, first started working with Nuffield Health in 2015.

Multiple grievances throughout my career about pay-related topics were expressed in an interview with BBC Wales following the conclusion of an employment tribunal,

She said in a publication by BBC Wales.

Early issues were more easily handled internally, but she later found she had no choice but to escalate her lawsuit.

Littlewood's allegations were all well-founded in July last year, according to an employment tribunal.

 unauthorised deductions from her pay cheque and holiday pay, as well as unfair dismissal, were among the complaints.

The published decision outlined how portions of Littlewood's compensation were withheld starting in June 2022.

She lodged a complaint, but it was not upheld, and what ensued, she said, was a string of bullying cases, including the changing rotas without clear explanation, inability in dealing with holiday requests, no praise for profitable PT sales, and a lack of promotion opportunities.

She was told in January 2023 that she would face discipline, among other things, because the business claimed she was submitting hours at an incorrect wage level.

This was not the case, but the tribunal found that this was not true, with the judge adding, "The incidents were in the main caused by poor communication and were of a trivial kind to the degree that we had assumed a responsible employer would have dealt with them as HR issues.

They should never have been escalated to the point where they were not. Common sense was wholly departed from.

Littlewood was sick for a short time after the discipline probe, but not before.

She continued to talk to executives about returning to work over the summer of 2023, but they were unable to engage with her.

In September 2023, the last straw occurred when Littlewood travelled to Brandenburg, Germany, to compete in the European Canoe Polo Championships.

On June 7, she had lodged an annual leave request to cover her time away and been transparent with her bosses about her schedules.

She tweeted that the leave had not been approved on August 8th but that she did not hear a response until September 7th, while she was in Germany, when she was told by one of her managers, James Cheadle, that she had not approved leave, either annual leave or a valid sick note, and she must attend in person for a meeting on September 12th.

The claimant, who was clearly on a final written warning, sped away from Germany to make sure she was at the meeting,

the study stated.

However, when she landed in Bridgend after 800 miles, she was told Cheadle was not there and she was away on training.

This was the one act by the respondent that showed the contemptuous manner in which the claimant was treated,

Judge Samantha Moore said.

To refuse leave months earlier, knowing what the claimant was supposed to be and requiring her to attend a meeting but not to worry about turning up, was disrespectful and clearly unreasonable.

Littlewood had

made a lot effort and under intense pressure to attend a meeting,

she said, and Cheadle "did not have the courtesy to attend the meeting or make arrangements for someone to meet with her in his place.

Littlewood, who represented herself in the employment tribunal, said the process was "very frustrating.

"You don't know where to go, and you don't even know what to do if you're in that situation. It was a long time before I knew there was something more. An external body that exists to support you in these situations.

"I had no legal training. I only had my meticulous papers that I'd been keeping.

"I knew what was wrong, but I knew it was wrong.

A compensation hearing ordered Littlewood to pay the upheld claims in February 2026.

However, the true victory for her was in shedding light on Nuffield Health's systemic miscalculation of PT holiday compensation.

The holiday compensation was not based on a realistic average of gross income or in accordance with government guidelines,

the tribunal found in her case.

This case is not about me, she said, adding that the decision could now be used "in any future tribunal considering a similar case.

"I won't pretend the process was easy. It was years of my life, and it was exhausting to do it alone against a large employer with a full legal team behind them.

"What kept me going was knowing that if I could get the full written reasons on record – and they are now publicly accessible – it won't be about me anymore.

"Nuffield has over 100 clubs around the UK, and there are personal trainers in every single one of them that are all entitled to holiday pay based on their available earnings.

"That was what felt worth fighting for. Hopefully this will be able to help hundreds and thousands of PTs around the country.

Although she said there was more pressure, she said she was juggling her legal battle with her sport obligations.

"It's super difficult. I was the one on the stands questioning these bosses. I had to brush off my feelings [about] the interactions with these managers.

I actually think being an athlete has improved, says the author. When you're playing and you have to do something, you get all these feelings, all these things that come over you.

Every time it was difficult and I felt like throwing the towel in,

I was like, oh, I was going to fight this because if I didn't fight this, who would fight the corner for all the PTs?

"I'm proud of all the work I've done coming to the end of this whole experience.

Although she said she agreed that it's nice to be compensated and that the victory would encourage her to move out of her parents' house, she added, "Justice would seem to be doing the right thing.

Littlewood was forced to leave Nuffield after the Germany crash, and, although the World Championships in China in 2024 were her last canoe polo event for Great Britain, she said, "never fully retire.

I'm still training, I'm playing in the Spanish League, in the Italian League, and I'am coaching the Danish ladies,

She continued, adding that she also runs her own PT company.

Nuffield Health said it was "committed to providing a fair and supportive working environment for all employees, which was backed by concrete policies and procedures.

"While we accept the tribunal process, we are disappointed with the decision in this case. Since this is a legal matter and subject to appeal, it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.