Generous Jones shells out £40,000 to long-serving employees

UKFast boss gives four employees a £10k bonus for 10 years' service

Four lucky employees at hosting and datacentre specialist UKFast were given a five-figure sweetener to start the year after celebrating 10 years’ service.

Each of the team members, who had worked at the Manchester-based firm for 10 years, pocketed £10,000 as a thank you. And to top it all, boss Lawrence Jones picked up the tax tab too.

Employees who had spent five years at the firm were awarded £1,000 each.

He said: “We committed an investment of more than £5m to the new UKFast Campus last year and we have more to come in 2014 in our bid to create the best working environment in the world. But the five and 10-year cheques are, without doubt, the best money I spend all year. I write them out and hand them over with a huge smile on my face.

“I’ve no doubt some business owners and accountants will look at what I do and say I’m crazy but I firmly believe that paying significant bonuses, that allow my team to make life-changing decisions, is one of the most sensible business decisions we make here.

“Imagine the costs involved in having to recruit and retrain for those roles after they’ve been filled by talented people for five years or more. These individuals who you can trust, who understand the business; its culture, its ambitions and everything that makes it unique, who can guide new recruits down the right path… they are priceless. A £5,000 or £10,000 cheque is the least I can do to thank them, " he said.

In addition, 10 lucky winners of the firm’s "Tech Ten" were announced. The Tech Ten is a year-long competition for support engineers to accrue points by delivering great service. The winners will be taken on an all-expenses-paid trip to Las Vegas to celebrate their success.