Majestic, the UK’s largest specialist wine retailer, has rewarded its colleagues with additional time off during the Christmas and New Year period as a thank you for their hard work during 2023.
Majestic has confirmed that it will close all 208 of its stores across England, Scotland and Wales for an extra day, on 2nd January 2024, to allow colleagues to spend even more quality time with their family and friends during the festive season.
It marks the second time in the past three years that the retailer has closed its shops on 2nd January. As it has done in previous years, Majestic will also close on Boxing Day – a tradition it has upheld in each of its 43 years in business – and New Year’s Day.
Colleagues working in Majestic’s Support Centre in Watford, its Distribution Centre in Hemel Hempstead, and in field-based roles have also been awarded all three days off. It means that all of Majestic’s 1,600 colleagues will enjoy the additional break during the holidays, at a time when many other high street retailers will re-open for business.
Majestic CEO John Colley said: “2023 has been another turbulent year for retail, but our business has continued to move ahead during ongoing economic uncertainty. That is something that would not have been possible without the hard work of all our colleagues, and for that the board and our shareholders are very grateful.
“As a thank you for the incredible efforts of everyone across the business over the course of the year – and in particular during what has been a hugely busy week heading into Christmas – Majestic will be closing all of our stores, our Support Centre and our Distribution Centre on Boxing Day, New Year’s Day and the 2nd January, 2024.
“As a business, we know how important it is to spend quality time with family and friends, especially during the festive season. Rewarding our colleagues with these days off is the right thing to do to allow everyone to make the most of the Christmas break, and come back to work fully refreshed in the New Year.”
The move is part of Majestic’s ongoing focus on the health, wellbeing, learning and development of its people – commitments that have been recognised by industry experts. Majestic has once again been named as a finalist in the Happiest Place to Work category at the prestigious Retail Week Awards 2024 – the second year in a row that it has made the shortlist.
In April this year, Majestic made its biggest-ever investment in colleague pay to better recognise the expertise and experience of store teams. All store colleagues were awarded a basic pay increase that took their hourly rate to at least £10.60, ahead of the current National Minimum Wage. This was brought in alongside a new incremental pay structure that rewards colleagues for their Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) qualifications, their experience with Majestic, and the size of the shop that Store Managers and Assistant Managers are in charge of.
In the academic year to the end of July, Majestic funded and coached 550 colleagues to WSET qualifications, boosting their wine knowledge and annual salaries in the process. Around 250 more Majestic colleagues have passed their WSET exams since the start of the current academic year in August.
Alongside the new pay deal, Majestic’s retail colleagues also retained the ability to earn uncapped bonuses, and can win all-expenses-paid trips to wineries around the world to further their wine knowledge. This year, around a quarter of Majestic’s retail colleagues have enjoyed once-in-a-lifetime trips to destinations including California, Australia, Chile and Mexico.
