Neal's Yard Remedies has attracted 50% of its staff from London to Dorset by offering three months' paid leave as an incentive. The organic beauty firm is relocating its head office and factory and has offered the leave to all staff that move to the new location and stay for two years.
HR director Elizabeth Smith said: "We are really pleased with the number of staff that are going. A lot of them are production workers on our basic pay grade - they are not senior executives. "Obviously we want people to do something worthwhile with the leave rather than slob out. They might use it to learn a skill or travel abroad." Additionally the firm is delivering £20 DIY vouchers to staff's new homes and giving them five days off to move. "The relocation package doesn't match those of big corporates but there is an incentive," added Smith. Some 35 out of 70 employees are swapping the capital for Gillingham in North Dorset this month.
Workers that go west will be able to take advantage of a subsidised organic canteen and complimentary therapy on-site. Smith said: "The new factory has been designed in conjunction with a leading green architect, there will be a social area with an organic canteen, and treatment rooms where therapists will practise disciplines like aromatherapy and herbalism."
