London broker Finncap offers staff unlimited paid holiday

New policy requires staff to take a minimum four weeks each year, with no maximum limit

FinnCap offers advisory and finance services to institutional clients as well as wealthy investors. Getty Images

A City of London firm intends to battle staff burnout by offering unlimited paid holidays.

FinnCap Group Plc will change its vacation policy from next year, specifying a minimum limit but no upper threshold.

Such a perk is increasingly common at tech companies but finance firms – steeped in a hard-charging culture of long hours – have been slower to adapt.

The firm’s investment bankers, salespeople and other staff will be required to take at least four weeks a year and two or three days a quarter.

After a blockbuster year for capital markets and a pandemic to boot, the company is concerned about the toll it has taken on employees.

Chief executive Sam Smith told staff: “There’s not a maximum, there’s a minimum you must take.

“The rest is up to you.”

Ms Smith – whose firm has recruited more than 30 people so far this year to help with increased workloads – said the policy includes other steps to ensure workers felt free to take as much holiday as possible.

The company has set out a list of activities, from vet visits to plumber callouts, that will not count towards the four-week minimum.

The move is designed to help ease the strain on FinnCap’s 155 staff during an unusually busy time for capital markets.

“Burnout is not resolved by a quick two-week holiday,” Ms Smith said. “It is resolved by properly changing the way you work.”

FinnCap offers advisory and finance services to institutional clients as well as wealthy investors.

On Thursday the group reported its best interim results for the six months to September 30 after an “exceptionally active period for the M&A team” and strong demand in equity capital markets units. Revenue rose 55 per cent to £31.7 million ($43 million), with deal and advisory fees up three quarters.