Major UK employment law firm sent their COO on BBC Breakfast to talk about heat safety. That same morning their own office was 29°C. By end of day it was 35.5°C on some floors. They’ve had no air conditioning for over a year.
TIP OFF — Major Employment Law Firm Advising UK Businesses on Heat Safety While Staff Suffer in 32.5°C Office
On the morning of Monday 23rd June 2026, Kate Palmer FCIPD, Chief Operations Officer of Peninsula Business Services Limited — one of the UK’s largest employment law and HR advisory firms — appeared on BBC Breakfast to advise Britain’s employers on their legal responsibilities for managing workplace heat.
That same morning, the temperature inside Peninsula’s own Manchester headquarters had already reached 29.1°C before 9am. By 4pm it had reached 32.5°C with humidity of 51%. Both readings are confirmed by thermometer with photographic evidence.
The air conditioning has been broken for over 12 months.
The full picture
Peninsula Business Services Limited, headquartered at Victoria Place, Manchester, employs hundreds of staff in their Manchester office. For over a year those staff have worked in conditions that Peninsula’s own published guidance — released this week — identifies as unsafe and legally problematic.
Internal temperatures have consistently reached 32-32.5°C, confirmed by thermometer readings with photographic evidence across multiple dates in May and June 2026. On several occasions the building was running 10°C hotter internally than outside temperatures — demonstrating that the building is generating and retaining dangerous heat entirely independently of the weather.
At 51% humidity and 32.5°C the heat index — what the temperature actually feels like to the human body — is considerably higher than the thermometer reading alone. High humidity prevents sweat from evaporating, which is the body’s primary cooling mechanism. This is not discomfort. This is a physiological danger.
The consequences have been severe:
A member of staff fainted on the premises in May 2026
Two separate ambulance attendances occurred within days of each other
Staff have reported slurring their words on client calls due to cognitive impairment from the heat
Employees have experienced nausea, heat oedema and sustained physical distress throughout the working day
Fire doors have been propped open with stools as improvised ventilation — creating a secondary fire safety breach
Pregnant employees
Multiple heavily pregnant employees are among those affected. Despite specific legal obligations under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 regarding new and expectant mothers, no individual risk assessments have been carried out and no alternative working arrangements have been offered.
When staff asked to work from home — a solution Peninsula routinely helps their own clients implement and for which they hold extensive documentation templates — they were told it was not reasonably practicable due to the time, resource and equipment required.
This claim is demonstrably false. Peninsula already has multiple employees who work from home permanently and successfully. The infrastructure, processes and documentation clearly exist. The refusal to extend this to office staff during a documented health and safety crisis is therefore not a matter of practicality — it is a matter of choice.
The hypocrisy in numbers
On the same day as the BBC Breakfast appearance, Peninsula:
Published a five step guide to managing working in hot weather — failing every single step in their own building
Sent internal communications to their own advisors encouraging them to upsell health and safety reviews to clients specifically referencing hot weather compliance, using scripts about keeping employees safe in warm weather
Refused staff requests to work from home citing resource and equipment constraints — despite advising clients on home working implementation daily and already operating a permanent home working arrangement for a number of their own employees
Peninsula’s management responses to the ongoing crisis have consisted of:
Asking staff to close the blinds
Asking staff to turn laptops off overnight
Providing an ice cream van for two hours per day
Providing small desktop USB fans — arriving days after being promised
Relaxing the dress code to permit shorts
Promising ice lollies on Thursday and Friday
Meanwhile staff are slurring their words on client calls and a colleague was physically unable to continue working due to heat related illness.
The evidence
This account is supported by:
Dated thermometer readings with photographic evidence including today’s reading of 32.5°C at 51% humidity at 16:00
Management emails acknowledging the ongoing situation dating back months
Internal communications regarding the upselling of H&S reviews to clients on hot weather compliance
Peninsula’s own published BBC Breakfast appearance and hot weather guidance
Documented medical incidents on the premises
Internal team communications confirming staff cognitive and physical symptoms
Peninsula advises thousands of UK businesses on employment law and health and safety compliance. They charge those businesses for the privilege. They are simultaneously and knowingly failing their own staff on both counts. In Manchester.
This information is provided anonymously by a concerned employee. The evidence is substantial, dated and verifiable.