The Christmas party has also been cancelled
Staff at Manchester United have seen their annual Christmas bonus of £100 replaced by a £40 voucher for Marks & Spencer.
The move is the latest part of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s radical cost-cutting at the club since he took control of football operations at Old Trafford on Christmas Eve last year.
In August, some 250 people at United were made redundant. This, along with other spending cuts, had apparently led many staff to assume they would not be getting any form of bonus this year.
When the Glazer family ran the club, staff received a bonus of £100 every year in the lead up to Christmas.
But this year, the bonus has been reduced to a £40 voucher at high street retailer M&S, the Daily Mail reports.
One member of staff told the publication that “it’s worse now” than under the Glazers, whilst another said: “At least the Glazers prioritised families.”
Related links:
- Pep Guardiola makes career announcement as he eyes new role
- Club ‘make £5m offer’ to bring Jose Mourinho back to the Premier League
- Michail Antonio had video call with West Ham teammates before Wolves win
The decision to reduce the festive bonus comes after the Christmas party at the club was cancelled. The club hierarchy decided a festive party would be inappropriate following a year of redundancies.
In previous years, the club has held a party in Manchester for its 1,100 workforce in a marquis in the West Car Park at the stadium, at Old Trafford Cricket Ground and Victoria Warehouse.
Along with the job losses, Ratcliffe has also come under fire in recent weeks for the decision to raise ticket prices at Old Trafford to a minimum of £66 for the rest of this season.
Over the weekend, it was also announced that Dan Ashworth had left his role as sporting director at United after just 159 days in the job.
