Update

If you intend to dismiss an employee, you actually have to tell them

It is axiomatic that in order for there to be an unfair dismissal, there must first have been a dismissal. In order for there to have been a valid dismissal, the employee in question must have been made "unequivocally" aware of the employer's intention to dismiss. In A Sandle v Adecco UK Limited (UK EAT/ 0028/16/JOJ), this is exactly what the Claimant failed to prove.