Welsh holiday resort supports its employees through cost of living crisis with financial wellbeing app

Bluestone National Park Resort in Pembrokeshire is giving its 800 employees access to a financial wellbeing app in a move to offer support with the current cost of living crisis.

The app provides a range of financial services built around wages: staff can use it to track their shifts and pay each day, choose their own pay cycle, build up savings, set money goals and talk to a personal finance coach and get fairer deals on financial products.

Stuart Jaynes, director of people services at Bluestone National Park Resort said: “We’re all aware of the impact the rising cost of living is having on our lives. It’s important that we give our employees at Bluestone the right tools to ensure they have strong financial health.

“Our utmost priority is our employees’ mental health and wellbeing. We know that providing financial wellbeing support at a time when the price of food and fuel is putting pressure on household budgets is really important.”

Research from Wagestream showed that more than 50 per cent of UK workers run out of money before payday; 39 per cent of adults don’t feel confident managing their money; half of all households don’t have £250 in savings and one in two adults with debt has a mental health problem.

The app developer says it can improve wellbeing by up to 96 per cent, with users reporting an 86 per cent reduction in financial stress and a 72 per cent increase in improved finances.

Providing financial wellbeing through the app is part of a number of initiatives to support Bluestone’s staff’s health and wellbeing. The resort has a dedicated Wellbeing team and extensive Employee Assistance Programme.

Last year it signed up to Mind’s Mental Health at Work Commitment and was awarded the Corporate Health Standard gold award by NHS Wales as part of the ‘Healthy Working Wales’ programme, a national mark of quality for health and well-being in the workplace.

The resort also provides free transport for part-time roles, such as housekeeping, with a coach travelling around the county to bring them into the resort every Monday and Friday, plus subsidised onsite childcare during school holidays.