It was not a base move. Anyone with access to the actual timelines involved, the contract negotiations etc will be able to prove that. The pilots taking legal action for unfair dismissal from N Denes will lose. Sad but true. CHC lost the contracts they flew on and gained another at another base several months later with a new customer. The redundancy processes had been completed.
There is never a guarantee that an operator will win a contract and right up until Shell signed, it was not a done deal. N Denes was closed (and staff made redundant) several weeks (5 from memory) before Shell signed.
Waste of everyone's time and money. Utter waste.