Lycamobile tells nearly 90% of UK staff they could lose their jobs

Exclusive: Telecoms company is loss-making and it is locked in a long-running VAT dispute with HMRC

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Nearly 90% of the UK workforce at the telecoms company Lycamobile have been told they could be made redundant, the Guardian has learned, in an announcement that leaves more than 300 staff fearing for their jobs shortly before Christmas.

The company, owned by the multimillionaire Tory donor and businessman Allirajah Subaskaran, sells pay-as-you-go sim cards popular with low-paid workers wanting to make cheap phone calls to family overseas, as well as in the UK.