Credit union for Blackpool and Preston signs deal to help county firm's staff save

The credit union has welcomed 1 Homecare as its latest payroll partner, the 67th organisation to become part of the programme of support for county employees.

1 Homecare provides care services to people in their own homes in Blackpool and Preston; both privately-funded and contracted by the local authorities.

The firm, based in Greenbank Street, Preston, was looking to boost its staff benefits with a payroll savings scheme, but needed third party support.

Employees of the firm had asked about a Christmas savings club, but didn’t want to put their money with any of the well-known brands for fear of it going bust as Farepak did in 2006.

Care coordinator Samira Morcos said: “We wanted to offer staff the option of saving money direct from their salary, but we didn’t want to have to organise it, manage and hold deposits ourselves.

“Our MD suggested we contact the local credit union and, within a week of making the call, we were all signed up and ready to go.”

Bosses were reassured by the fact that the credit union is regulated by the FCA and that members’ savings are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme just like the banks.

Samira added: “The attraction of payroll saving is you’re less likely to miss the money when it comes out of your wages automatically, and less likely to dip into the account during the year like you would with a regular bank account.

“This will really help our staff to save up for Christmas throughout the year and hopefully reduce any money worries at a traditionally expensive and stressful time.”

1 Homecare’s owner Shakil Mazhar said: “I’m delighted to partner with the credit union to provide this service to our staff and am very grateful for how easy and straightforward the CLEVR team has made the process for us and our staff.”

Anthony Brookes, for CLEVR Money, said: “Employers which sign up with the credit union demonstrate a clear commitment to their staff. 1 Homecare is supporting their financial wellbeing via a partnership with a highly-regulated yet deeply community-focused local organisation which is proud to put people before profit. In addition to savings we also provide responsible loans.”

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