Coffee organisation Starbucks has enhanced its rental deposit loan scheme for UK employees, enabling more staff to gain access to the benefit.
The Home Sweet Loan scheme, which launched in September 2015, provides eligible employees with an interest-free loan, up to the value of a month’s salary, to cover the costs of a rental deposit when moving home. Employees pay back the loan over a 12-month period.
The scheme has now been extended to include employees who are sub-letting rooms and the eligibility period has been reduced from 12 months of service to six months of service. In addition, Starbucks UK has shortened the amount of time between application and loan delivery.
The scheme aims to help employees based across the organisation’s 5,500 stores, particularly those under the age of 25, with living costs and the expense associated with moving home.
The scheme was originally developed in partnership with housing charity Shelter and not-for-profit campaigning organisation Generation Rent. The amendments to the benefit were announced today (27 June 2017) at The Prince’s Seeing is Believing event, in partnership with Business in the Community (BITC) and London First.
Martin Brok, president at Starbucks Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), said: “A lot of our [employees] live in cities close to our stores where the cost of living is soaring and we believe with Home Sweet Loan we can make a real difference to their lives by offering this benefit.
“This month we have had the highest number of applicants, so we hope by extending the scheme, more [employees] will take advantage of this initiative.”