Colleagues at the UK’s largest private sector employer Tesco are in line for a bumper pay out after the strong performance of the Tesco Save as You Earn colleague share schemes.

More than 20,000 Tesco employees, who are mainly shopfloor colleagues working in stores and distribution centres, will share in a windfall profit of more than £30m now that the schemes have matured.

The windfall is created by the strong growth of the Tesco share price, which was £3.06 earlier this week. Colleagues who joined the schemes are able to buy shares at a discounted price of just £1.88 or £1.98 each and either keep them for the longer term or sell them and make a profit on each share.

Colleagues who invested the maximum £500 a month into the share savings schemes stand to make a personal profit of almost £10,000 from the three-year scheme and nearly £20,000 from the five-year scheme, if they opt to sell the shares.

A Tesco store colleague who invested the average £68 a month for the last five years stands to net around £6,640 from their £4,080 investment, a profit of £2,560.

A total of 52,000 colleagues take part in a Tesco SAYE scheme, which is one of the largest in the UK, with different schemes maturing each year. Tesco workers have invested £63.5m in the schemes since 2019, and they report that they find it a great way to easily save from their monthly earnings, with many of them using the schemes to pay for expensive treats like holidays.

The scheme is one of a host of benefits available to Tesco’s around 300,000 UK colleagues. The company recently introduced a pay rise for hourly-paid workers to £12.02 an hour, which is the biggest ever increase in store colleagues’ hourly pay in a single year, at 9.1%.

Tesco has also implemented a series of family-related policies to support colleagues with their busy and demanding lives, including the right to request flexible working from the first day in role (ahead of legislation), a virtual GP service for colleagues and their families, as well as an enhanced Employee Assistance Programme to support colleagues with their emotional wellbeing.

Emma Taylor, Tesco Chief People Officer, said: “It’s great news that more than 20,000 colleagues will benefit this year from our share schemes. This is just one of the many benefits available to our colleagues, and the strong performance of the schemes this year is a reflection of their hard work and the brilliant job that they do serving our customers every day.

“Colleagues tell us they like this way of saving every month - and when Tesco performs well, they share in a multi-million pound payout or can keep shares bought at a discounted rate."

"This year the schemes’ success is rewarding our colleagues with thousands of pounds in profit, helping to boost their savings for everything from holidays to house renovations.”