A fifth of Marks & Spencer staff who are members of the retailer’s Sharesave scheme are on the brink of sharing a £56m windfall following the strong performance of its shares.
Almost 12,000 employees will receive profits ranging between £1,000 and £45,000 due to the rise in the M&S share to more than £7.
Over a period of three, five or seven years, staff have saved between £50 and £250 per month. Employees who saved the maximum amount of £250 per month in the three year scheme have made a gain of more than £20,000 on their original £9,000 investment. Those who saved the minimum of £50 a month have made profits of £1,000. The majority of those who will benefit are store staff.
Stuart Rose, chief executive of M&S, said: "We’re delighted that so many of our people have benefited from Sharesave this year and that their faith in M&S and their hard work has been rewarded."
Sharesave schemes have been offered to M&S staff for over 20 years. Employees save on a monthly basis for a fixed term and use their savings, plus a bonus, to buy shares at the market price at the beginning of the savings period, discounted by 20%. There are currently over 22,000 M&S employees on the scheme.