‘In the moment I just got a bit heated’: Sacked B&Q worker, 18, says he regrets his ‘irrational’ foul-mouthed rant on shop loudspeaker ‘when he was fired for vaping’ because TikTok video might harm future job prospects

• A B&Q employee made a foul-mouthed public farewell after he was sacked 
• Adam Powis called his colleagues ‘c****’ and said ‘f*** everyone’ on the store PA
• He now says he regrets the ‘irrational’ stunt as future employers might watch it
• The 18-year-old said he was good at the job before being ‘sacked for vaping’

A B&Q worker has said he regrets calling his colleagues ‘c****’ and saying ‘f*** everyone’ in an explosive final customer announcement after he was sacked, and fears it will damage his future career.

Adam Powis made the foul-mouthed farewell on the public address system at the hardware giant’s Weston-super-Mare branch in November.   

He shared a TikTok of the incident, which quickly went viral, showing the 18-year-old saying: ‘This is a customer announcement. I just got sacked and B&Q are c****. F*** everyone. Have a nice day’.

Adam now says he regrets being ‘irrational’ and venting his frustration in a ‘heated’ moment which saw him banned from every B&Q store in the country, and worries future employers will see the video.

Adam Powis made a foul-mouthed public announcement at the B&Q store in Weston-super-Mare

Adam now admits he ‘regrets’ making the announcement because future employers could see the video

The former B&Q worker has now been banned from all of the company’s UK stores following the stunt

The 18-year-old had been working in B&Q’s building department part-time for around six months where he was trained to cut materials for sale, and said he was good at his job before being sacked for vaping outside the designated smoking area.

The student, from Bristol, said: ‘I don’t really get embarrassed but my heart was racing.

‘I was on my way out and I thought it would be funny so I acted a bit irrationally. I didn’t really think about it.

‘I made a mistake at work and then they took it further than they needed to so I was a bit annoyed. It wasn’t anything serious.

‘I didn’t think I deserved it because people have done worse things and they’ve not been fired. I’ve seen other staff [vape outside the designated area] and that’s why I was a bit baffled.

‘I actually enjoyed the job. I was good at it and I was never late. I wouldn’t even talk bad about the company but I felt I was treated differently.

‘I understand the criticism, but a joke is a joke and you can either take offence to it or you don’t. It was directed to staff in a sense but it wasn’t malicious. 

The 18-year-old walked out of the store for the last time without speaking to stunned staff and customers 

 Adam said he was ‘not too bothered’ about being banned from every B&Q store in the country

‘I didn’t hear anything from them afterwards so I thought I’d put it on TikTok for a joke. It’s so unexpected that some people think it’s fake, but the banning order proves it.

‘I probably shouldn’t have [made the announcement] but it happened. I do regret it a bit. Not because of what I said but more about future job opportunities.

‘If a company sees it then they might think I’m that sort of person but I’m good at my job and [in] the moment I got a bit heated.

‘I’m not too bothered about the ban. I don’t shop there on a regular basis. In future I might just have to get someone to go in for me.’

His video, posted last Thursday, has been viewed 2.5 million times on TikTok where some said his bizarre act had ‘justified’ his sacking while others joked they wish they could do the same.

Adam followed this up by revealing a letter from B&Q titled ‘banning notice’ on Sunday, which claims he will be treated as a ‘trespasser’ and legal action could be taken if he enters any of their UK stores again.

The aspiring personal trainer brushed off the ban, claiming ‘he doesn’t shop there regularly anyway’ and will simply ask others to buy items for him.

Adam says he had smoked his e-cigarette outside the smoking area behind the store on one occasion when he was spotted and sacked.

Adam’s ‘heated’ announcement at his old workplace drew mixed reactions from viewers on TikTok

He insists he wasn’t aware of the rule and believes he should have been given a warning rather than losing his job.

Adam says colleagues texted him after he left to joke about the stunt, but he did not hear from B&Q bosses until he saw the banning order.

The post of his announcement, captioned ‘got fired so left with style’, attracted a staggering 180,000 likes and 1,600 comments until it was removed by TikTok earlier this week.

One user said: ‘Is that your response? Then you justify why you were sacked from whatever you did before?’

Another commented: ‘There goes his reference.’

A third said: ‘Whether you should do this depends on why you were sacked.’

However one said: ‘I’ve always wanted to do this.’

Another joked: ‘You should have said everything is free for five minutes.’

A B&Q spokesperson said: ‘We are unable to comment on individual cases. We have agreed processes in place, and any decision to review a colleague’s employment is not taken lightly and considers all relevant circumstances.’

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