Very happy New Year for HBOS employees

ifs ProShare, a not-for-profit organisation that promotes Employee Share Ownership, has welcomed news that almost 14,000 HBOS employees have started the New Year by gaining up to £4,000 as a result of participating in HBOS Save As You Earn (SAYE) Sharesave plans.

SAYE plans involve employees investing between £5 and £250 a month over a 3 or 5 year period. At the end of this period employees can withdraw the money they have invested, together with a tax-free bonus, or they can use the money to purchase shares in their employer. The price at which shares are purchased is set at the start of the savings term and is typically 20% below the market price at that time.

The HBOS SAYE plans matured this week and resulted in a total payout of approximately £12 million.

Average payouts were around £1,000 per participating employee but those who invested the maximum £250 a month have received a gain of almost £4,000.

Fiona Downes, Head of Employee Share Ownership at ifs ProShare welcomed the news, stating:

“Once again we have seen a major UK company giving employees a stake in their employer and employees reaping the benefits as a result.

Employees contribute towards their employer’s success and SAYE schemes are a good way of enabling staff to share in the rewards of such success. I am sure HBOS employees will warmly welcome these gains.

Employers who offer SAYE schemes also benefit because employee share plans can act as a good retention tool, participation also increases productivity and research suggests that the underlying performance of an organisation with a share plan is superior to firms with no such arrangements.”

For further information on Employee Share Ownership please visit ifsproshare.org.