More than 10% of staff at Countrywide Farmers have taken up its first sharesave plan.

The firm, which supplies products to the rural community, has more than 1,000 staff and was pleased with the take-up in the current economic climate. Sarah Francis, group financial controller, said: “We were a little unsure about what the take-up would be and that is why we were so pleased. The number of applications had to be scaled back because they would have exceeded the number of shares set aside for the scheme.”

The scheme, provided by Yorkshire Building Society, was launched following staff requests.

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