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The outgoing chief executive of car insurance to loans group Admiral, David Stevens,is giving staff a £10m cash thank you, saying it was the right thing to do.

The generous payment will see all full-time staff, whether based in South Wales, where the FTSE 100 business employs around 7,500 or at its overseas operation that include those in India, France, Spain, Italy and the US, receiving £1,000. Part-time staff will receive a £500 thank you.

In total Admiral, which has a market capitalisation of £8bn, has a global workforce of more than 11,000.

It follows a similar gesture by former chief executive and co-founder of Admiral Henry Engelhardt, who with his wife Diane, also gave a £1,000 retirement thank you to full-time staff back in 2016. With the number of staff employed at the time it represented a payment of around £7m.

The payment from Mr Stevens is being made alongside his wife and another co-founder of the business, Heather.

The couple have also donated millions to good causes through their charitable organisation the Waterloo Foundation.

Admiral was launched selling car insurance over the phone in Cardiff back in 1991 with a team of just 57.

Mr Stevens, said: “Saying thank you to all Admiral staff in this way is the right thing to do and I’m so proud and fortunate to have worked with a such a special group of people.