Softcat showers staff with shares gifts

All staff awarded up to £3,600 of free shares

Softcat is dishing out free shares to all its staff as part of a Shares Incentive Plan (SIP).

The reseller floated on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in November and it now plans to give each member of staff a slice of the company.

A listing application for 629,883 shares was made yesterday and their admission is expected to happen today, according to a note posted to the LSE.

Staff who have been at Softcat for three years or more will be awarded £3,600 worth of free shares, while those who have been there for three years or less will receive a smaller amount, graduating depending on how long they have been at the firm. Seniority of staff is not taken into consideration when awarding shares through the scheme.

SIP is a government scheme which allows employers to award staff shares with tax benefits, so long as they retain them for a set period of time. The maximum companies can award staff under the scheme is £3,600 - the amount Softcat is giving its longest-serving employees.

Softcat's chief executive Martin Hellawell told CRN that his company was under no obligation to partake of the scheme, but he felt it was important.

"It is a pleasure to be able to do it," he said. "Everyone deserves a share."