A group of 18 Bristol employers have come together for a new scheme designed to help workers through the cost of living crisis.
Financial services firm Hargreaves Lansdown, which is headquartered in the city, is spearheading the initiative, dubbed the Bristol Financial Resilience Action Group (BFRAG).
The programme is seeking other local organisations to sign up to provide free financial education for employees, including on debt, saving, pensions, and investments.
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Firms looking to join the group must commit to implementing a series of recommendations if they do not do so already, in order to boost the financial resilience of staff.
Among these measures are a pledge to:
- Resolve payroll errors within one week;
- increase sick pay above statutory minimum;
- provide sign-posting to debt advice;
- offer free life insurance to employees;
- incentivise pension contributions to 12%;
- and, to provide any time pension contribution changes.
Insurance firm Aviva, Bristol City Council, chamber of commerce Business West, tech firm Neighbourly and science museum We The Curious are among the action group’s founding signatories, who employ a total of more than 25,000 local people.
Hargreaves Lansdown chief executive Chirs Hill said: ''Hargreaves Lansdown considers it of utmost importance to ensure the community we exist in thrives and our analysis shows that Bristol specifically has a lack of financial resilience.
“We have developed this pilot programme to bring employers together in Bristol to work towards a shared vision and goal of addressing this lack of financial resilience. We hope, through this initiative, that BFRAG will be the catalyst of change needed to improve the financial resilience of those in the workplace.''
Mayor of Bristol Marvin Rees added: “This spring, I’m pleased to join Hargreaves Lansdown and other city partners to launch an action group as we work to make Bristol the most financially resilient city in the UK. This will add to our continued response to the national cost of living crisis, and to our wider work building a better Bristol where nobody is left behind and everybody has the chance to share in our city’s success.”
It comes after research from the London-listed firm found across the UK as few as one in three households do not have enough cash in the bank to cover three months of essential spending, while four 4 in 10 are on track for a “moderate” retirement income.
Lisa Smith, head of people and places at We The Curious, said: "I strongly believe in the importance of financial resilience for our employees and the wider community. At We The Curious, we recognise that financial resilience is a critical component of everyone’s wellbeing and by being part of the Bristol Financial Resilience Action Group, we hope to support our employees in developing financial skills, knowledge, and behaviours that will help them to weather economic challenges and navigate personal finance successfully.”
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