Northern Rock Bonuses!

**Iccz** · 21-01-2009, 4:31 PM

Northern Rock Employees To Get 10% Pay Boost | Business | Sky News

Quote:

Northern Rock employees are to get a 10% pay bonus on Friday after they met targets on repaying a £25bn Government loan.

danmc_82 · 21-01-2009, 4:37 PM

Well done to them, wish I could take a loan out for that much and pay it so quickly

eric pisch · 21-01-2009, 4:41 PM

nice to see out tax going to good use

*Wild Weasel* · 21-01-2009, 4:45 PM

Now that's what I call rewarding failure.

Chrisoldinho · 21-01-2009, 4:50 PM

Well now that they've repaid the loan are they still nationalised or are they now a plc/private company again?

Also, now that they have repaid the loan surely they can now begin offering more deals than just a single above average SVR for existing customers.

keydude · 21-01-2009, 4:54 PM

Very well done indeed.

It is the only organisation I know which has managed a forced ownership and at the same time force the new owners to pay them bonuses.

I need some of those business ideas.

**Iccz** · 21-01-2009, 4:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chrisoldinho

Well now that they've repaid the loan are they still nationalised or are they now a plc/private company again?

Also, now that they have repaid the loan surely they can now begin offering more deals than just a single above average SVR for existing customers.

You mean pass benefits onto the public?!?!?!

Chrisoldinho · 21-01-2009, 4:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iccz

You mean pass benefits onto the public?!?!?!

I take this as a big fat no then

tony brazao · 21-01-2009, 5:00 PM

Agreed with above comment; this is rewarding failure.

Just imagine how the people feel, who have lost their homes and were booted out by Northern Rock???

Nice to see that YOU and ME; all the tax paying people in the UK, are giving these people £8.8 million.

? ? ? ? ? ?

matr69 · 21-01-2009, 5:07 PM

Does this mean I will get a bonus when I have repaid my mortgage?

eric pisch · 21-01-2009, 5:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tony brazao

Agreed with above comment; this is rewarding failure.

Just imagine how the people feel, who have lost their homes and were booted out by Northern Rock???

Nice to see that YOU and ME; all the tax paying people in the UK, are giving these people £8.8 million.

? ? ? ? ? ?

sums it up perfectly

The Crofter · 21-01-2009, 5:13 PM

Also they have not paid off the full loan, only 25%......

Another bonus at 50% ?. Why not, it is only taxpayers money

**Iccz** · 21-01-2009, 5:20 PM

I'd like to get a loan where I get a bonus for meeting my repayments, I wonder where I can find one of these.

wiz · 21-01-2009, 5:22 PM

This is obscene!

*The Dude* · 21-01-2009, 5:27 PM

If the Northern Rock staff have managed to turn things around so quickly, I'd say they actually deserve the bonus.

Most people expect a payrise for continuing to do their job just (as badly) as they always have done... at least the (remaining) staff at Northern Rock have earned theirs!

This to me is a success story, everything with regards to the Northern Rock bailout is going according to plan.

Result.

James Baker · 21-01-2009, 5:30 PM

This is a joke

My mortgage is with Northern Rock and I am stuck on their SVR for the next year or so and they have NOT passed all of the BOE rate cuts on - its nowonder they are paying back the government by overcharging people like me!

Surely if the bank is state owned we can stop this stupid waste of 8.8m...

eric pisch · 21-01-2009, 5:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baldybouncer

This is a joke

My mortgage is with Northern Rock and I am stuck on their SVR for the next year or so and they have NOT passed all of the BOE rate cuts on - its nowonder they are paying back the government by overcharging people like me!

Surely if the bank is state owned we can stop this stupid waste of 8.8m...

they thought hiding there expenses caused bad felling well this is gonna blow up in there face big time, a bank that we bailed out and as pointed out has been kicking people out of there homes is getting a massive reward of our money for paying back some of the money they owe us

how detached from reality can they possible get

keydude · 21-01-2009, 5:35 PM

Why stop at 10%?

Give them proper bankers bonuses for doing the job right.

Bankers..............

*The Dude* · 21-01-2009, 5:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eric pisch

how detached from reality can they possible get

It's a thought that crosses my mind suprisingly often.

James Baker · 21-01-2009, 5:39 PM

Northern Rock are con artists... The BOE rate as it stands is

1.5%

And the SVR rate they charge is

5.09%

so they are making 3.59% on money that belongs to the governement.

The Goverment should NOT let this happen. The 8.8m should go towards helping people struggling to keep hold of their homes and not lining the pockets of BMW driving BANKERS!

Decadence · 21-01-2009, 6:43 PM

Absolutely disgusting!

**zAndy1** · 21-01-2009, 6:52 PM

Yep, saw this on the BBC website and was staggered. The government should stop this if they ever want to be taken seriously as being commited to a) sorting out the mess the economy is in and b) stopping the culture that got us into this mess in the first place. Why should they get a bloody 10% bonus for doing a good job, I do a good job but I don't get a bonus! Absolutely ridiculous

Boris Blank · 21-01-2009, 7:24 PM

This is exactly the same sort of big business behaviour that caused the mess we are in to begin with!

Rewarding failure (and Northern Rock is a failure) is simply unacceptable, difference here is that they are now using tax payers money to pay for it instead of their own.

So lets see, a year ago NR were ripping us off with high interest rates, now they are still ripping us off with high interests AND lining the pockets of their staff from the taxpayers coffers!

Its OUR money, how can NR pay a bonus having only repaid part of the loan - this is criminal this is, these people are lucky to have a job never mind a bonus!

Naaktgeboren · 21-01-2009, 7:28 PM

This must be hugely embarrassing for the government, surely they have a big say in what goes at NR right now and this is just scandalous.

Paying bonus's from tax payers money and not passing down the full interest rate decreases as the Government made pretty clear they expected organizations to do....

Whats that all about

smelly · 21-01-2009, 8:07 PM

When the SVR remains at the level it is for NR borrowers this is just totally unacceptable and a bad bad move in the current circumstances. The only thing to say is that apparently the bonus does not extend to management or executives....only to those (in the words of the bbc) who

Quote:

have experienced the loss of friends and colleagues through compulsory redundancy yet have continued working solidly with dedication and commitment

Even so I think in the circumstances no bonus should be paid...

**Greg** · 21-01-2009, 8:15 PM

Totally out of order. When so many shareholders who still have had nothing (and probably won't ever get anything) for their shares when the Government took ownership, this is a most unsettling move. As the UK Government owns Northern Rock, surely this will be stopped!

*The Dude* · 21-01-2009, 8:19 PM

I think people are getting a bit confused here?

What's all this talk about 'our money' and 'taxpayers money'

Northern Rock took out a huge government loan, and are now paying it back ahead of schedule, why is that anything to get upset about?

If Northern Rock want to treat their staff to a £2000 bonus, what has that got to do with anything, in the big picture ?

Northern Rock are government owned, and that's all. they're not a government department?
Chelsea are owned by a Russian billionaire, should he get to pick the team every Saturday?

As soon as Northern Rock has paid its debt, and is making good solid profit again, I'll bet my ().() that it's privatised just as soon as R.Murdoch makes a big enough offer.

caoboth · 21-01-2009, 8:27 PM

I agree

Nr has paid back over half the loan already by the government.

They also were unable to (by the terms given to them by the goverment) be competitive and offer rates along the lines of other mortgage companies.

I would say congrats to then on being one of the only banks around there to actaully pay some of that money back. I look at the sorry state of RBS now 70% owned by us...... This is the same RBS that spent a ridiculus amout of cash buying ABN AMACO.......

I look forward to hearing about other such replayments being made.

captainff · 21-01-2009, 8:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baldybouncer

The 8.8m should go towards helping people struggling to keep hold of their homes and not lining the pockets of BMW driving BANKERS!

While I agree that the payout is, erm, to use some spin, badly timed (I guess they were hoping we'd all be hungover after the party in Washington

) the majority of the bank staff are struggling to make ends meet just like the rest of us. I highly doubt that the average Northern Rock employee drives a Beemer.. .. .. and now they have to face their customers who are going to be the wrong side of hostile towards them.

The fault for the bonus payout is not the bank employees but the politicians who negotiated it whilst making statements like

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gordon Broon

I'm angry too. I am angry at irresponsible behaviour,Our economy is built around people who work hard, who show effort, who take responsible decisions, and whether there is excessive and irresponsible risk-taking, that has got to be punished.

The days of big bonuses are over.

dan1979 · 21-01-2009, 8:33 PM

How is it rewarding failure?

It's not the branch cashier or the guy who sits checking application forms that made the bank fail - they're the low/average paid workers who've probably put in loads of unpaid extra work trying to appease angry customers and sort out the mess their bosses have caused whilst worrying about their own jobs.

The bonus is probably what makes their very modest salary ok to live on.

Obviously if the execs/board members were getting big payouts that would be another matter entirely but I see no problem in this.

Quote:

Northern Rock are con artists...

They're still a business - if they're not generating profits then how are they supposed to repay the taxpayers? If their rates were better than everyone else's it would also cause more problems for the other banks who are all fighting for deposits.