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Mary Carroll is Financial Controller at Whiteriver Group and told us how the company has used the Drogheda Gift Card to reward its staff.
About Whiteriver Group
Whiteriver Group is a privately owned business based in County Louth that first started distributing flooring in 1997 and has since grown to become the market leaders in laminate and engineered flooring in Ireland. The company was started by Brian Wogan and is now led by his sons Iain and Bernard Wogan
What rewards/incentives does Whiteriver Group offer?
“Whiteriver Group is one of the largest wholesale distributors of flooring in Ireland with 65 employees across our locations in Dunleer and Ferbane. We normally offer a bonus to staff at Christmas if contracted criteria is met. In the past, we’ve offered a gift card for Dunnes Stores. With the cost of living crisis, we also provided a summer bonus last year, supporting employees with their return to work.”
What are your key objectives for your employee rewards/incentives?
“One of the main objectives is that the reward is something that our staff can easily use. Our location in Dunleer is about halfway between Drogheda and Dundalk, so our employees may be from either. Another is choice for employees, and the third is community support. Whiteriver Group is a family owned business in a community based area. We employ local people, and we like to be able to give back through our rewards and incentives.”
Why did you choose Town & City Gift Cards?
“We liked the fact that the Drogheda Gift Card (one of the Town & City Gift Cards), can be used with over 200 shops and local businesses. The Dunnes Stores card was good because there is one in almost every town in Ireland, but a lot of employees prefer to go into the local shops. In an organisation like ours with over 60 employees, there are younger people and older people and we have to cater for all of their needs.”
What was your experience of using Town & City Gift Cards?
“I tend to order the Drogheda Gift Cards at the end of November. For security, they are locked, so I contact Town & City Gift Cards and activate the cards. Then, managers give out the cards to their teams in the first week of December.”
What feedback have you received?
“Our staff used their Drogheda Gift Card for all kinds of things. Some used their card to go to the hairdresser or salon in readiness for the Christmas parties, others used it to buy Christmas presents for their friends and family. The diversity of the businesses where the gift card could be spent was appreciated and utilised by our staff. As an organisation, it makes sense for us to reward our employees with a gift card thanks to the Small Benefit Exemption scheme, which allows us to give staff up to €1,000 tax free each year as a gift card. If we gave €1,000 cash, it would cost us €1,000 as an organisation but the employee would only receive €550. With the gift card, employees receive the full amount.”
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