Another individual to share concerns about Elliott with the BBC was Amy Cowie, who won an unfair dismissal case against his building firm Blenheim Homes North East in 2018.
She had been a personal assistant but, on her return from maternity leave, was told to work from a cabin on one of the building sites, where she said the site manager told her “I don’t know why they’ve put you here, I haven’t got anything for you to do”.
She was also told to clean the toilets and was eventually sacked without being told why, she said. She was just 20 and the ordeal caused her sleepless nights and “a lot of emotional pain”, she said.
Cowie was awarded just under £12,000 by an employment tribunal for emotional damages, loss of earnings and holiday pay, but this was not paid and she hired a debt enforcement company.
Elliott paid the debt to enforcement officers at his home but later phoned the company to say he was going to freeze the payment and would be contacting a solicitor. Months later he liquidated Blenheim Homes and Cowie “never got a penny”, she said.
When Elliott became a councillor her “jaw hit the floor” and hearing others were owed thousands of pounds was the motivation to share her story, she said.
“I didn’t get the money, but I showed him that people will do something about it,” she said.
“Although, technically speaking, it’s not illegal, he jumps through legal loopholes to harm people.
“Maybe he does think he’s done nothing wrong but not all of these people can be liars.”