Staff at Red Funnel will be going without their Christmas bonus this year due to what has been described as a ‘difficult’ year for the company, with reduced demand, mechanical faults and higher overheads to blame. With less than a week to go until the big day, the cross-Solent operator has told its staff that they will not be receiving the discretionary annual bonus. Fran Collins, CEO of Red Funnel, has explained in an email that 2023 has been a difficult year for the company with the prolonged outage of Red Eagle having a significant effect at the start of the year. Reduced customer demand is also said to have had an impact, with ‘heavy competition’ in the tourism sector and higher overheads being other contributory factors. The rising cost of living has also been noted as a key factor in Red Funnel falling short on its financial targets this year, which means the annual bonus has not been triggered. Talking about the impact it will have, an employee has told Island Echo:
“This decision has left the majority of us struggling before Christmas, especially in our cost of living crisis. This gesture meant a lot as we all struggle on the wage we get. We are hard working individuals who keep Red Funnel running from day to day.
Reassuring staff, Mrs Collins has said that whilst the ‘challenges and turbulence’ over the past 12 months won’t go away overnight, she is very confident about Red Funnel’s future with a strong plan in place going into 2024, underpinned by realistic expectations. There will be a ‘collective focus on improving profitability’, it is said.
