Serco: Test-and-trace firm hands £5m bonus to workers

Serco, one of the UK companies which runs the coronavirus test-and-trace scheme, has said it will award bonuses totalling £5m to its staff.

It said 50,000 workers would be given £100 each to recognise "the extraordinary efforts of our staff around the world during the pandemic".

Serco will also hand back £3m in furlough payments to the government and has returned £38m in deferred taxes.

The NHS Test and Trace programme has faced criticism over its effectiveness.

Some call handlers tasked with tracking down people who have tested positive for Covid and getting in touch with their close contacts say they have spoken to hardly anyone.

However, other contact tracers say that some members of the public are refusing to engage with the scheme.

Serco's chief executive, Rupert Soames, said: "In what will be remembered as one of the most challenging periods for businesses since the Second World War, Serco's people have proved themselves to be resilient, flexible and dedicated to ensuring the delivery of public services."

The outsourcing company reiterated its guidance on sales and profits for this year.

Revenues are expected to rise 19% to £3.9bn, while underlying profit is set to grow by around 35% to between £160m and £165m.

Serco said organic revenue growth, not including contributions from acquisitions, continued to accelerate during the second half of its financial year and is expected to reach 17%.

It said growth was driven by a number of factors, including providing "Covid-19 related services" in the UK as well as running the immigration removal centres at Gatwick on behalf of the Home Office.

The company said it has deferred making a decision on whether to pay a dividend to its shareholders as well as paying the cash element of its directors' bonuses.

Serco was criticised for considering making the payment to investors. "This is grim beyond belief," shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Rachel Reeves said in October. "While Serco is raking in the profits, people are paying the price for its failure on contact tracing."

In Thursday's trading update, Serco said that following the "second wave" of Covid-19 infections the board believes "this is not the right time to make a decision on the resumption of payments of dividends, and will reconsider the position again at the time of the publication of our final results for 2020".

"Likewise, payment of the cash element of executive director bonuses earned in respect of 2019 performance, which was deferred when we announced the withdrawal of the final 2019 dividend, will be further deferred and also reconsidered at the time of our 2020 final results," it added.