Thousands of UK shoe store employees are set to share out a £25million bonus as a reward for good sales performance.
Employees of Schuh, which has shops in Inverness and Aberdeen, are in line for payouts worth thousands depending on how much they are paid and how long they have worked for the firm.
The Scottish-based shoe chain has been owned by an American firm, Genesco, since 2011 when it bought Schuh for £125million.
The bonus payout is the second that lucky staff have received since the initial buyout when 2,827 employees shared out £37.3million.
The firm estimates that a full-time employee who makes £14,000 and who has worked at the firm for five years or more would be line for a £3,000 bonus. A store manager on £34,000 a year and with a 10 year career with the firm could take home as much as £14,000.
The company now has about 3,900 employees across the UK, Ireland and in Germany. Almost 3,500 are in line to receive the bonus payment, with about 40 working at the firm’s northern outlets. The average age of Schuh employees is 21.
Last year the Livingston-headquartered firm opened up 12 further stores which boosted sales and profits. Sales rose 7.6% to £247.5million in its most recent year, with pre-tax profits down just slightly – from £12.1million in 2014 to £11.5million. Since 2011 the number of stores has nearly doubled from 59 to 111.
Colin Temple, the chief executive of Schuh who sold his stake in the firm to Tennessee-based Genesco, said: “Despite real challenges for all high street retailers, Schuh is going from strength to strength.
“We have gained significant market share in recent years with the introduction of our new concept Schuh kids, we’ve opened more stores and we have recruited many more people.
“The success of our business is based on the hard work and dedication of our people and there is no better way to thank them than to let them know we’re sharing £25million throughout the business.”