Workers at an engineering firm are being given an extra £1,000 each to help with the spiralling cost of living.

The inflation-busting package is Fletcher Moorland’s way of thanking its staff for their hard work over the past two years despite the challenges of the pandemic.

The Stoke-on-Trent company, which marked its 75th birthday last year, hopes the extra cash for all 86 of its workers will help cushion them from rising energy and fuel prices.

Managing director Matt Fletcher said: ‘Because of the nature of our work we are in the fortunate position to have seen some strong growth over the past two years – despite Covid.

‘We have taken on 18 new staff since the start of the pandemic because of the demand we have seen from the renewable energy and electric vehicle sectors. Everybody has worked really hard.

‘But we would have had to have been living under a rock to not notice what is going on with the cost of living at the moment.

‘We can’t do anything about rising fuel and gas prices but we can do something to help our employees deal it with it.’

He said that when staff were told they’d be receiving £1,000 each, the room went silent, followed by a standing ovation.

‘We pay for the staff party at Christmas and we offer very good basic pay and overtime rates but this is the first time we have given our staff a bonus like this,’ Matt added.

Staff at Fletcher Moorland – which specialises in industrial parts repairs – says the total of £86,000 given to workers will be ‘really helpful’.

Maintenance engineer John Roe, 46, said: ‘I recently moved into a new house and the bills were a bit higher than expected but now everything is sky-rocketing, even the cost of a weekly shop, so this is really going to help.

‘I haven’t heard of many companies doing this, so hats off to Fletcher Moorland – and thank you to the management team.’

Electromechanical engineer Ian Hunt, 34, of Shavington, said that with his wife on maternity leave having just had a baby girl, it couldn’t come at a better time.

Earlier this month, StokeonTrentLive reported how Emerys Timber and Builders Merchants, which has branches in Cliffe Vale and Telford, paid out more than £45,000 to staff after awarding its 60 employees a £750 bonus.

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