6:57 am, November 19, 2022
Car dealer group Chorley has given its staff the afternoon off on Monday so they can watch the England game.
England play Iran on Monday in the first World Cup match with kick off at 1pm.
Chorley Group, which runs dealerships in Lancashire and Wigan, for Nissan, Hyundai, Kia, Vauxhall, MG, Citroen and Isuzu will close at midday on Monday.
Managing director Adam Turner posted on social media that customers should ‘not come knocking’ on Monday afternoon as his team were ‘supporting the boys from a distance’.
A notice on the car dealer group’s social pages explains that the company will close for the England game and be open again on Tuesday.
Turner said that the ‘small things mean the most’ to his team in replies to copious messages of support on LinkedIn for the move.
‘Typically we get back tenfold from a great team,’ he said.
Praising the move, Turner’s connection Barrie Tompson said: ‘Kudos to Chorley Group. I spent 24 years in the motor trade, big and small companies, and have never seen this approach ever. Hats off to you guys – very empowering.’
The move comes as a study revealed the first England match could cost UK businesses a whopping £884m in lost hours on that day, based on average earnings.
Some 34 per cent of respondents to a survey of 2,000 workers said they have booked the time off work for the game.
Only one in 10 workplaces are said to have offered workers flexible hours to accommodate World Cup viewing.
Lisa Silcock, a HR partner and manager, told HR News that businesses should be flexible.
She said: ‘When it comes to events like the World Cup, which you know people are excited about, it’s important companies engage with staff rather than ignore it.
‘This could be by letting staff have some time off to enjoy the matches or letting a television play in the background for important games. Be ready for everyone to be distracted and reschedule the company’s workflow around matches to ensure you’re not hitting peak demand just when the kick off starts.’
