-Believed to be the first company in the UK IT channel to introduce a 4-day week-

-Initial 3-month trial will begin on 1st April-

Highgate IT Solutions (Highgate), a UK based IT VAR (value added reseller) has today announced that it will trial a 4-day working week. The trial will take place over a business quarter, starting 1st April 2022. Adopting the 100:80:100 model, this trial will see Highgate commit to 100 per cent pay, for 80 per cent of time, in return for 100 per cent productivity.

With the official UK pilot due to start in June, interest in the 4-day working week has started to build up momentum. So why is Highgate considering a 4-day working week and what advantages does it have?

“The last two years have been challenging for lots of us in many ways. It has provided us with new perspectives on life and emphasised the importance of two key areas: employee wellbeing and the value of time. For me, Highgate is more than a business or brand. It is our ever-evolving vision of what a harmonious work/life balance should look like, one without stress, pressure or anxiety. One that enables people to become the best version of themselves, inside and outside of work. By moving to a 4-day week, we are giving everyone back the most valuable thing in life, time,” said Highgate Sales Director, Bob Sahota.

Organisations that have already made the move to a 4-day working week have reported increases in performance and profit. As well as benefiting from an increased attraction to potential employees and higher employee retention rates.

“There are plenty of potential commercial benefits of moving to 4-day week including increased revenue, increased productivity, lower staff turnover and attracting new talent, but none of them are our motivator for this. When you build a business focussed purely on increasing turnover and profit by any means necessary, you can lose sight of what is really important, and for us the journey is more important than the destination. Employee wellbeing and their mental health is the keystone of our business and I strongly believe that a 4-day week that consists of 28 hours will improve all of our lives” explains Sahota. “Our service to customers will not be impacted, as our 4-day working week has been designed with them in mind too. Days off will be staggered across the teams, meaning Highgate remains operational five days a week. It is very important to us that we continue to deliver the high level of service to our customers that they are used to”

Charlotte Lockhart, Founder of The 4 Day Week Global added: “We have passed the tipping point with the 4 Day Week and reduced hours working. The leadership at Highgate have recognised that this is the way forward and we congratulate them and wish them all the best for their trial. We’re looking forward to following their journey.”

In February, Highgate announced they had been certified Carbon Neutral Plus. Their Alliances Manager & Sustainability Lead, Jenny Latimer explains, “moving to a 4-day working week will help reduce our carbon emissions as a result of decreased energy use. Additionally, the time our teams get back allows them the chance to make environmentally positive changes, such as walking instead of driving.”