Ratcliffe orders MU staff to return to office due to 'toxic' training atmosphere

SIR JIM RATCLIFFE has ordered Manchester United staff to return to the office from next month.

SunSport exclusively revealed that the British billionaire has turned the training ground “toxic” after slamming the cleanliness of the facilities.

The part-owner recently sent out a memo to all staff declaring his disappointment after a tour of their HQ.

That came after staff had their FA Cup Final treats of free tickets, travel and lunch revoked to save money.

Our report then also revealed that some staff who had been able to work from home have been told to get into the offices either in Manchester or London.

Ratcliffe claims that email traffic dropped by 20 per cent at one of his other companies when they experimented with Fridays working from home.

A staff meeting took place last week where employees were bluntly told by the strict Ratcliffe: “If you don’t like it, please seek alternative employment.”

Staff must return to the office permanently by June 1, despite some pushback from United’s interim CEO Patrick Stewart.

He had looked to try and protect the flexible arrangement but his impending departure from Old Trafford was announced last week.

United’s internal communications team sent out an email this week that said Ineos “are taking the time to review all aspects of how we operate as a club.”

It then read: “Part of this is looking at how we work—how we create a high-performance environment where everyone can be their best, working together towards our common goal of football success.

“The key to achieving this goal is connection and collaboration. Everyone coming together as a collective to share skills, knowledge and ideas, building on the best of what we already do and looking at where we need to change and innovate.

“We believe this connection and collaboration is best achieved when everyone works together in close proximity. Although hybrid working has some benefits, it cannot replace the value of people being physically together.

“With this in mind, we will be asking all colleagues who currently have hybrid working arrangements to return to the office permanently.”

However, SunSport understands that spacing could potentially be an issue.

Office issues

The club’s office spaces have undergone a refurb over the past 12 months - but they were designed with those flexible working arrangements in mind.

That means that currently there are not enough desks at both their Manchester and London offices to fit each member of staff in.

Ratcliffe and Ineos have taken over football operations at Old Trafford having paid £1.03bn for a 27.7 per cent stake in the club.

The 71-year-old and Ineos Director of Sport Sir Dave Brailsford have since quickly set about trying to rebuild the whole club from top to bottom.

United confirmed the appointment of Jason Wilcox as technical director last month from Southampton.

That came after they announced ex-Man City man Omar Berrada as their new chief executive.

And a new sporting director is yet to be officially appointed but is expected to be Newcastle's Dan Ashworth, who is on gardening leave, with more talks to thrash out compensation set to take place.

Ratcliffe and Brailsford are also hoping to make huge strides on the pitch - and that will start with a huge clearout of the playing squad.

United will “listen to offers” for all but THREE of their squad in this summer's transfer window with only young trio Kobbie Mainoo, Rasmus Hojlund and Alejandro Garnacho not up for grabs.

Pressure is also mounting on boss Erik ten Hag after Monday’s 4-0 mauling at Crystal Palace left them sitting eighth in the table.

He is expected to remain in charge until after the FA Cup Final against Man City, but many seem certain that could be his final match in charge.