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A growing number of businesses are joining the trend of giving staff longer holidays to boost morale.

Recruitment firm Barker Ross, which is headquartered in Leicester, has started giving its workforce up to 50 days off a year after asking what would make them happier.

Staff can win extra days, for instance, by getting to work on time or not having sick days.

It comes after bosses at JMS Engineers started giving their staff every other Friday off, helping their employees enjoy their work more.

That business, which has 12 offices across the ������Ƶ in places such as Loughborough, Leicester, Ipswich, Norwich, London and Manchester, started trialling the idea of the extra, fully paid days off at the start of the year.

Management said it had proved so successful that they had decided to keep it running.

While Leicester’s MNE Accounting is trying to shake up the traditional conservative image of its profession by giving staff an afternoon off each week – with no effect on their salary.

MNE managing director Tim Emmony said: “In some ways this is a ‘thank you’ for their hard work.”

Since the start of the year the Barker Ross workforce have had the chance to win extra holiday or earn it through improved performance.

Like many other companies, they can also buy extra holiday time.

The business, which saw turnover grow six per cent to £53 million in the year to November 30, 2018, has around 130 staff.

As well as Leicester, there are offices in London, Milton Keynes, Nottingham, Peterborough, Lincoln and Northampton.

Its Leicester-based technical business manager Nicole Durham said: “As a mother of two, flexibility and not missing those all-important moments in their lives is key to me.

“The opportunity to increase holiday is also a help, especially in the long summer school holidays. 

“I have 39 days holiday for 2019 and can earn a further 6.5 days through good attendance and time keeping.”

Managing director Tim Sutcliffe said: “Employees think it’s amazing that they can now get up to 50 days annual leave and it’s been a really important talent tool in attracting experienced individuals into our business.”

Chief executive Paul Ross said staff are consulted on all big decisions.

He said: “One of our key points of difference is that, as a business, we invest heavily in ensuring that our staff have a great work/home life balance and that they feel looked after. 

“We believe we do this better than many other recruitment businesses and that it plays a key part in our business success.

“By introducing new and different benefits on an on-going basis we believe that it gives a boost to staff morale and business performance.

“We want to make our employees feel as though they have a voice in the running and development of our business and we find that by doing this we drive better business results.”

“We introduced staggered hours and opening our offices from 7.30 to 6pm – this is great for families or those that look after elderly people.

“We understand the balance here and listen to our people – we want to be flexible round their needs.  We also welcome part timers.”

HR and talent manager Louise Thompson said the general mood in the office was more positive now with a rise in the number of people wanting to join the business.

She said there had also been a drop in sick leave and it was helping keep the company’s annual employee turnover rate down to 5 percent, against a national average of 15 percent.

Over at construction engineers JMS the 50-strong team works on anything from new homes to theatre renovations, office buildings, roads and surveys of aggregate sites.

Andrew Kenyon, a JMS director, said keeping their workforce “motivated, happy and capable” was just as important as providing high quality work.

He said the longer weekend offer there had gone down a storm, with staff getting just as much done during their working hours as they did before.

He said: “It’s no secret that the construction industry has a culture of long working hours and constant high-pressure targets to be met, so it’s refreshing to see JMS bucking the trend by scaling back working hours.”

Meanwhile at MNE Accounting managing director Tim Emmony said: “We delivered strong growth in 2018 and I think last year’s success is partly down to our ability to offer a service that really resonates with forward-thinking business owners.

“But of course, nothing is achieved without our fantastic team.

“In some ways this is a ‘thank you’ for their hard work.

“However, our levels of productivity have increased, so we know that working fewer hours is achievable long-term whilst still continuing to grow the firm and delivering the same quality of work.”