Colleague rewards & well-being
We deeply value our employees’ mental, social, and financial well-being. Our commitment is fostering a workplace where they feel engaged, truly valued, and cared for.
We listen to our colleagues to understand what is important to them and how we can support their overall well-being. How we recognise their value, reward their efforts and ensure their well-being, together with how they can be supported to learn and grow at work, are each key parts of the long term relationship we seek to build with each and every colleague.
The mental, financial and physical wellbeing of our colleagues is always our first priority. That’s why we’re working hard to make sure that wellbeing in the workplace is a big part of our culture. Because everyone has a part to play in keeping us all engaged, healthy, happy and feeling rewarded.
We’ve lots of family friendly policies which provide support for our people through life changes, including enhanced Maternity & Adoption, Paternity, Bereavement, Dependents and Emergency leave to support colleagues when they need it most.
We also have a range of benefits built to suit everyone. Because we’re all different. That’s why we’ve put a lot of effort into creating a wide range of financial, lifestyle and health benefits to suit everyone, whatever stage of life they’re in, including:
Financial well-being
And we’ll do this through things like:
- Life Assurance for every colleague 2x salary
- Wagestream: financial wellbeing app
- Financial education support: provided by independent experts
- Financial coaching
- Your Share. Free shares for colleagues when ZIGUP succeeds
- Mortgage advice: provided by independent experts
- Exclusive high street discounts & savings
- Save As Your Earn: discounted shares
- Discounted electric car leasing schemes
Mental well-being
And we’ll do this through things like:
- Employee Assistance Programme: confidential wellbeing support
- Help@Hand: online GP support
- Bereavement counselling
- Specialist cancer assistance
Physical well-being
And we’ll do this through things like:
- Cycle 2 Work scheme
- Health Cash Plan: opt in to claim cash back on routine healthcare
- Physiotherapy
- Lifestyle Coaching
- Discounted gym membership
We’ve invested in a number of support tools, initiatives and benefits to empower our colleagues to take control of their own needs and to access the support they want, including:
- EAP: A funded, Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) offering:
- Help@hand.
- Remote GP; Second Opinion; Mental Health Support; Physiotherapy Support; Life, Money & Wellbeing Support.
- Cancer assist – offers in-the-moment cancer guidance.
- Flexible Life Assurance, allowing colleagues to increase cover to 10x salary
- BUPA Dental Plans & Westfield Health Cash plans, even free flu jabs ahead of the winter months!
- GymFlex membership schemes offering discounts of up to 40% across over 3,300 sites nationwide.
- Improved Family Friendly policies.
We’ve made positive changes to our Family Friendly policies too, ensuring our colleagues have clearer (and better) support through life changes, with increases in our Maternity & Adoption, Paternity, Bereavement, Dependants and Emergency leave entitlements to ensure that colleagues can put themselves and their families first, when the time comes.
There is work still to do but we make a commitment to all colleagues to consistently seek to improve our ability and increase our capacity to support colleagues, both physically and mentally, by putting more of the right tools in place.
Financial wellbeing
We have made larger pay increases to colleagues at lower salary levels (between 3% and 9%) and a capped 3% rise at mid- to senior-level levels.
This is testament to our commitment to supporting our employees in investing in our Group.
We continued to make awards under our SAYE and Free Shares programmes for the second consecutive year. The SAYE encourages share ownership at no financial risk and under the Free Share scheme we awarded £500 worth of shares to all eligible employees. Both schemes provide a tangible financial benefit to our colleagues.
Hear from Harry on what being a shareholder in ZIGUP means to him
Fair financial services
We have also introduced a platform which helps colleagues track their earnings in real-time to understand how much they will get paid, helping them plan and budget better and supporting flexible access to fair financial services.
This is supported by online learning modules available to colleagues including on topics such as ‘Coping with the Cost of Living’ and ‘Making the Most of Your Money’.
Case study: Colleague financial services
In 2023, we introduced a range of services and support to promote greater financial inclusion, including free shares, financial education sessions, and tools to help individuals plan and budget more effectively.
Financial inclusion and wellbeing
We introduced a new Save As You Earn Scheme in 2023 alongside the Free Shares program, which we have continued in 2025. This program ensures that all our colleagues receive £500 worth of free shares, providing a tangible benefit to their financial security and future.
In 2023, we introduced Stream, a platform to improve workers’ financial wellbeing by giving them access to fair financial services based on flexible pay. This platform enables people to track their earnings in real-time, allowing them to understand how much they will be paid and plan and budget more effectively. 33% of colleagues have now enrolled in Stream, with a significant number also setting up savings pots.
In Spain, our Northgate Savings Club offers colleagues a wellness platform featuring discounts, personalised offers, and exclusive promotions with top brands. Uptake has been strong, with 57% of colleagues registered and 40% making purchases.
Providing our colleagues with financial tools, support, and education has been at the heart of our wellbeing strategy. As the rise of basic living costs has continued, inevitably, this has the potential to create financial distress and, in turn, can greatly impact an individual’s mental health. Additionally, ethnic minority workers, in particular, feel excluded from tools and credit systems that could strengthen personal finances.
By providing tools such as Stream, we aim to help colleagues enhance their financial resilience by encouraging them to save more and educating them on effective money management.
Joanne Foster
Head of Rewards and Wellbeing