Engineering consultancy Atkins has increased the number of days staff can buy through its holiday trading scheme from five to 15 per year, in order to offer more flexible working and aid retention.

The move follows the success of the scheme last year, when 18% of the workforce either traded in days for cash or bought extra holiday. Iain Willetts, head of reward, said: "This is all about providing additional flexibility and, given the success of the holiday scheme, we decided to extend it to 15 days, which we believe is ahead of market practice."

He added the change will be of particular interest to staff with young children, who are looking to balance their home and working life. Employees can only make their selections around holiday trading once a year and the days they can sell remains at five.