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Boss gives staff £1,000 bonus to help with cost of living crisis

Workers at Fletcher Moorland, in Stoke-on-Trent, will receive the £1000 bonus. (Reach)
Workers at Fletcher Moorland, in Stoke-on-Trent, will receive a £1000 bonus. (Reach)

A boss has given more than 85 of his employees a £1,000 bonus to help with the rising cost of living.

Workers at Fletcher Moorland, in Stoke-on-Trent, will receive the money as a thank-you for their hard work over the past two years, the business said.

The industrial parts repairs company added it hoped the extra cash would go some way towards helping its employees deal with rising energy and fuel costs.

On Tuesday, energy companies warned as many as four in 10 people could fall into fuel poverty in October as they called for more support from the Treasury for vulnerable households through a social tariff.

Read more: Cost of living crisis: Energy bosses warn of 'horrific' October price rises

(L-r) Ian Hunt, John Roe, Malcolm Fletcher, Diane Bouchier and Manageing Director Matt Fletcher. (Reach)
Managing Director Matt Fletcher (far right) with several employees (Reach)

Fletcher Moorland said all 86 employees would receive the bonus in the coming months, meaning it would pay out £86,000.

Employee Ian Hunt, 34, said: "When we were told that we would be getting this money I was amazed.

“We had a baby girl, called Amber, nine weeks ago and my Mrs is on maternity leave so it will really help towards the cost of nappies and things like that."

Maintenance engineer John Roe, 46, added: "I recently moved into a new house and the bills were a bit higher than expected but now everything is sky-rocketing, even the cost of a weekly shop, so this is really going to help.

"I haven't heard of many companies doing this, so hats off to Fletcher Moorland – and thank you to the management team."

Watch: Cost of living hit as inflation rises faster than expected

Matt Fletcher, managing director of Fletcher Moorland, said: "Our staff are on good wages here because it's skilled work, but the management team decided we wanted to give them something extra to show our appreciation and help with some of the rising costs.”

On Tuesday, ScottishPower chief executive Keith Anderson said the government should take £1,000 off the bills of the poorest people in the country in October while speaking to MPs on the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee.

He suggested that the government or billpayers would then pay this off over 10 years.

Anderson said: “I think the problem’s got to the size and scale that it requires something significant of that nature where those people who are deemed to be in fuel poverty or vulnerable need something of the size and scale that puts their bills back to where it used to be before the gas crisis.”

Read more: Energy prices to remain sky high for years, experts warn

Electric bill charges paper form on the table
Energy companies warned as many as four in 10 people could fall into fuel poverty in October. (Getty)

Anderson called that “stage one”, which should be followed up with a social tariff that gives poorer households discounted energy. This should replace the current price cap, he said.

He added it is “perverse” that customers with prepayment meters – who are likely to be more vulnerable – pay more for their energy than those who pay by direct debit.

At the start of April, the price of energy soared by around 54% for the average household, but meanwhile the weather is getting warmer, so consumption is likely to drop.

Those paying their energy bill by direct debit will see prices go up this summer to build up credit for the winter, but prepayment customers will not do that so will see an even bigger rise in October.

The government has announced a £200 rebate to be applied to energy bills in October, which will need to be paid back over the next few years.