More than 147,000 Tesco staff across the UK are today celebrating a £91m payout.
Over £34m comes from the latest Tesco profit share scheme to mature after three years in a tax-free trust. Staff can choose to either keep their shares or cash them in and reap the rewards, without paying any income tax.
On top of this, Tesco is also giving staff more free shares, totalling £57m, under the company''s new "Shares in Success" scheme, launched today. Eligible staff will receive free shares equivalent to 3.6 per cent of their salary, which will mature over the next five years.
Tesco Chief Executive, Sir Terry Leahy, said: "The continuing success of Tesco is down to the loyalty, commitment and sheer hard work of our people.
"Profit Share and the new Shares in Success schemes are our way of saying thank you to them. It is also a great way for staff to invest in the company - as over 100,000 of them now do."
Employees who are benefiting from the 2000 profit share scheme that has just matured include:
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Pamela O’Brien, 56, from Manchester is selling up and buying her dream villa in Spain. Checkout section manager Pamela has worked at the Baguley Extra in Manchester for 13 years and always planned to retire abroad with her husband. Throughout her time at Tesco she has saved her Profit Share and Save As You Earn shares totalling £40,000 and has used them to put towards her dream Spanish home.
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Melanie Evans, 30, from Cardiff is using her payout to put towards her wedding in Las Vegas in September. Melanie has worked at her local Tesco Extra in Bridgend for 12 years and has been using Profit Share and the Tesco Save As You Earn scheme to save for her big day. She now has a handy £6,000 to celebrate her wedding in style.
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Football-mad Paul Knight is a deputy manager at the Cheshunt Extra store in Hertfordshire. Paul is 35 and has just learnt that he will soon be promoted to a store manager. Aside from work, Paul’s real passion is Arsenal football club. He will use his Profit Share payout to follow Arsenal around Europe in the Champion’s League.
Notes to Editors
1. Tesco is the UK''s largest private sector employer with over 220,000 employees (Worldwide Tesco employs 296,000).
2. Profit Share: In June 2000, staff received a notice of appropriation, detailing how many shares had been allocated to them. Tesco has held the shares in trust for three years and staff now have the option of keeping the shares and benefiting from any share price increase and dividends, or selling some or all of the shares totally free of income tax.
3. Shares in Success replace Profit Share, which has had to come to an end due to changes in government legislation. All Tesco staff with one year''s service are eligible for the scheme and are allocated Tesco free shares once a year. The shares will then be held in a tax-free trust for five years to avoid paying income tax. Today''s announcement is the first allocation of free shares made to staff under the new scheme.
4. The figures quoted for the profit share scheme are based on Wednesday’s (11 June) share price of 212p.
5. The figures quoted for the Shares in Success scheme are based on a share price of 197.4p at the time of issue.
