The hero boss of an engineering firm has given each of his workers an extra £1,000 to help with the rising cost of living.
Matt Fletcher hopes the extra cash will help towards helping 86 employees deal with rising energy and fuel costs.
Matt, the managing director of Stoke-on-Trent firm Fletcher Moorland, said the business was fortunate enough to have thrived during lockdown, taking on 18 new members of staff since the start of the pandemic.
"Because of the nature of our work we are in the fortunate position to have seen some strong growth over the past two years – despite covid,” Matt told Stoke-on-Trent Live.
“We have taken on 18 new staff since the start of the pandemic because of the demand we have seen from the renewable energy and electric vehicle sectors. Everybody has worked really hard.
"But we would have had to have been living under a rock to not notice what is going on with the cost of living at the moment
"We can't do anything about rising fuel and gas prices but we can do something to help our employees deal it with it."
Matt added: "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.
“When we told them the room went silent, then they gave us a standing ovation.
Has your boss paid you a bonus to help you during the cost of living crisis? Let us know: mirror.money.saving@mirror.co.uk
"We pay for the staff party at Christmas and we offer very good basic pay and overtime rates but this is the first time we have given our staff a bonus like this."
Fletcher Moorland, which specialises in industrial parts repairs, marked its 75th year in business in 2021.
Staff at the company say the bonus money, which will amount to £86,000 in total, will “really help” during the cost of living crisis.
Electromechanical engineer Ian Hunt, aged 34, of Shavington, 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."
John Roe, 46, who lives in Hanley, is a maintenance engineer.
He said: "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."
Earlier this month, we reported on how another boss gave each of his workers £750 to help them cope with the cost of living crisis.
James Hipkins, 51, managing director of Emerys Timber and Builders Merchants, splashed out £45,000 in total on 60 members of staff.
