STAFF at the Yorkshire Building Society in Ealing will get a five-day break over Christmas, after it was announced that all branches would be getting Christmas Eve off.

The Society, which has a branch on the High Street, says it is recognising the immense challenges of 2020 where its staff have gone above and beyond in their roles and this is their way of saying thank you.

As key workers they have kept the vast majority of branches open throughout the pandemic and call centres have remained open to provide essential financial services to customers.

Nearly 1,500 staff also switched from office to home-working and no one was furloughed.

Mike Regnier, Chief Executive of Yorkshire Building Society, said: "We wanted to do something that recognised the extraordinary year that all our colleagues have been through.

"I hope that by giving our colleagues Christmas Eve off this year and providing an extended break to relax and spend time with family at home shows in part my immense gratitude to them.

"From the beginning, our response to COVID-19 has been to focus on the key priorities of keeping members in their homes, making sure their savings are secure and accessible, and looking after our colleagues' safety and wellbeing.

"Without the massive efforts of our colleagues none of this would have been possible.

"We have kept as many branches open as we could throughout the pandemic and helped more customers to access our online services so they could manage their money safely from home.

"I hope customers understand why we have made this decision to recognise our colleagues in this way after this unprecedented year.