At common law the employment of an employee cannot be transferred from one employer to another without the employee's assent.
In 2007 Peninsular bought Taxwise, and some of its employees, including Ms Gabriel, moved onto the Peninsular Taxwise payroll, although remaining employed by Peninsular. Then, in April 2009, some employees, including Ms Gabriel, formally had their employment transferred to Taxwise Services Ltd, with continuity of employment and on the same terms and conditions. However, it was subsequently found as a fact by the employment tribunal that Ms Gabriel did not receive notification of this transfer, and was not actually aware of it until the subsequent proceedings.