Over the past couple of years, we have done considerable work to support staff with the cost of living and help them manage their finances. We developed a holistic financial wellbeing and benefit strategy, partnering with household names in the employee benefits space such as Perkbox Vivup and Salary Finance. These benefits are continuously utilised and feedback from our staff is overwhelmingly positive.

One of the biggest challenges that we face in Oxford is the cost of rental accommodation, and we know that this has an impact on attracting and retaining our workforce. My favourite benefit introduced in 2024 has been our rental accommodation support loan. We offer all our staff up to £3,000 as an interest-free salary advance to support them with their accommodation deposit and first month’s rent.

We kept the eligibility criteria as simple as possible to maximise the number of staff who could benefit from the scheme, and we are now looking at options to extend this benefit to candidates with a confirmed job offer so that we can support with their rental accommodation before they start work with us.

Our suite of housing benefits also includes access to a free mortgage broker from Tembo, fixed-fee conveyancing from Adroit Legal Services, discounted removal services and discounted local self-storage.

Adam Kirton is assistant director of workforce – pay, policy and reward at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust