Virgin Money to award staff £1,000 share bonus

Virgin-Money-2014

Virgin Money is to grant each of its 2,800 permanent employees £1,000 in shares at its initial public offering when the bank floats on the London Stock Exchange.

With the exception of directors and senior management, the retail bank will award the shares to its employees a year after it floats, for which no date has yet been set.

It wants the IPO to further improve the ability of Virgin Money to recruit, retain and incentivise its key management and employees.

The organisation follows a number of banks including TSB, OneSavings Bank and Aldermore that have floated this year.

Virgin Money will pay an additional bonus based on earnings from its earliest days as a public company. It is targeting a payout of 10% and 20% of profits before introducing bonuses in line with larger-listed banks.

Jayne-Anne Gadhia, chief executive officer of Virgin Money, said: “Our capability to deliver growth at meaningful scale, the quality of our balance sheet and our absence of legacy issues makes us stand apart from other banks, and these strengths give us the potential to deliver ongoing returns to our shareholders through both capital growth and progressive dividend payments.

“In addition, and in recognition of their hard work to date and their contribution to the future value of the organisation, I am also delighted to announce that each employee will be awarded £1,000 worth of shares in the business upon flotation.”