Scottish housebuilder to pass on employer national insurance savings to 900 staff

Springfield, the Scottish housebuilder and property group, is to pass on its own national insurance savings to its near-900 employees.

The move follows the confirmation that the UK government will reverse the 1.25 per cent increase, which came into effect in April this year.

The Springfield Group, comprising Springfield Properties, Springfield Partnerships, Dawn Homes, Walker Group, Tulloch Homes and Mactaggart & Mickel Homes, had budgeted for the higher employer national insurance (NI) contributions and said it would now ensure that employees receive the benefit of the changes, by passing the amount saved on to them.

To achieve this support, the group will award all employees an increase to their salaries. This, together with the employees own NI saving, should equate to a pay increase of around 3 per cent, bosses noted. This follows two inflationary rises already awarded to employees this year as well as the introduction of private healthcare.

Chief executive Innes Smith said: “Last week’s announcement on national insurance savings for individuals was welcomed. We have decided to bolster this saving for our employees by passing on the benefit that we, as an employer, will also receive.

“Looking after our employees is a fundamental core of our ethos. We recognise the pressure people are under with increased cost of living and we are very pleased to be able to offer additional support to our people in this way.”

Last week, Springfield Properties announced that it had delivered more than 1,000 homes in a single year for the first time after booking record full-year results.

During its financial year to the end of May, the group acquired Inverness-based Tulloch Homes and, in June, struck a £46.3 million deal to buy the housebuilding business of Mactaggart & Mickel in a major consolidation move for the sector in Scotland.

Innes Smith is the chief executive of Springfield, the Scottish housebuilder and property group.

The latest annual results showed that revenue jumped by almost a fifth to £257.1m, while profit before tax lifted 10 per cent to £19.7m.

The record year saw the firm complete 1,242 properties, an increase of 27.6 per cent from the 973 completions in 2021 and marking the first time Springfield has delivered over 1,000 homes in a single year.