LAST week was national Walk to Work Week but one Upper Eden company has a similar scheme which runs throughout the year and results in a build-up of staff holidays.

Out of Eden, which is based on the outskirts of Kirkby Stephen, promotes the health benefits of walking or cycling to work by rewarding staff with the time it takes to walk to work added to their annual holidays.

Management assistant Sharon Hughes said: “We are rewarded with minutes which build into holiday allowance. We can get five minutes a day for the walk to and from Kirkby Stephen.

“Some people live further away so they cannot walk to work, but there are quite a few regular walkers or cyclists and even more during the summer months.”

The added bonus is that walking to work helps to reduce the business’s carbon footprint and saves money on fuel. The holiday accrued can be taken at quieter times of year as time off in lieu.

Employees record the time taken to walk to and from work on their timesheet with a W or WW. Someone working five days a week can build enough minutes for almost two-and-a-half days additional annual leave if they walk to and from work every day.

Out of Eden, a supplier of hotel products, was founded more than 20 years ago. The company is owned and run by Ian and Janet Hartley and has grown from humble beginnings into the town’s largest private employer.

LEFT: Some of the staff who regularly walk (and cycle) to work at Out of Eden, Kirkby Stephen.