An early Christmas present for Yorkshire Building Society staff

Staff at Yorkshire Building Society in Ashton have received an early Christmas gift this year - an extra day off for Christmas Eve! 

As Christmas Eve (24 December) falls on a Thursday this year, it means that staff will receive a full five-day break over the festive season as they will return to work on Tuesday 29 December.

It also means customers will need to plan ahead if they need to contact the Society around this time as the branch on Old Street and its call centres will be closed during these dates.

Yorkshire Building Society say it is recognising the immense challenges of 2020 where its staff have gone above and beyond in their roles.

The company add that staff - as key workers - have kept the vast majority of branches open throughout the pandemic and call centres have remained open to provide essential financial services to customers. Some 1,400 staff also switched from office to home-working.

Mike Regnier, Chief Executive of Yorkshire Building Society, said: “We wanted to do something that recognised the extraordinary year that all our colleagues have been through. I hope that by giving our colleagues in Ashton and across the UK Christmas Eve off this year and providing an extended break to relax and spend time with family at home shows in part my immense gratitude to them.

“From the beginning, our response to Covid-19 has been to focus on the key priorities of keeping members in their homes, making sure their savings are secure and accessible, and looking after our colleagues’ safety and wellbeing. Without the massive efforts of our colleagues none of this would have been possible.

“We have kept as many branches open as we could throughout the pandemic and helped more customers to access our online services so they could manage their money safely from home. I hope customers understand why we have made this decision to recognise our colleagues in this way after this unprecedented year.”