Each of the ex-employees will receive about £5,000 after winning a legal case over their redundancy.

The Stewart Milne Group (SMG) entered administration in January last year, leading to 217 job losses. Around 110 of those affected were based in Dundee.

Unite the Union brought the case on behalf of its members, resulting in the workers being granted eight weeks’ pay through what’s known as a protective award — a penalty issued by an employment tribunal when an employer fails to meet collective redundancy consultation rules, The Courier reports.

Because the company was in liquidation, payments were capped at eight weeks’ wages, with a maximum of £643 per week.

Paul Kissen, an employment lawyer at Thompsons Solicitors who represented Unite the Union, said: “Even though you can assure people that this money’s coming, when it takes 18 months, anyone’s going to be doubtful. So it was a sense of relief when the payment came in the end.

“A lot of people don’t know anything about the protective award because it’s not something the administrators or liquidators of the company let the employees know about.

“They don’t have to. It’s not part of their job to inform people about a claim they could make against them.

“So, people got in touch with us and we also got in touch with whoever we were able to speak to.”

Steven Dillon from Unite the Union added: “I’m happy the workers got something, but would have liked it to be a bit more.

“If you take into consideration the length of service all these people worked at Stewart Milne, I’d have expected more than just the basic award.”