Our remarkable staff retention rate at freetobook is a point of pride for us, especially when you consider the challenges that many businesses face in the current employment market. It is common for employees in the UK to change employers every five years, with those in the tech industry changing roles every two years on average.

We have continually succeeded in defying this trend at freetobook by recognising the importance of continued flexibility, both in terms of what we offer and what our employees desire. From the very first day, our employees are exposed to a diverse range of engaging, challenging, and exciting projects, ensuring they are always learning and growing.

Additionally, we provide a variety of benefits, including bespoke Development tailored to each individual’s specific needs and ambitions, 10% paid learning time, career progression guidance, and technical and leadership skills training across our teams. We believe that our efforts in these areas have contributed to our high staff retention rates and enabled us to avoid the current trend of employees frequently changing roles in search of new challenges.

We deeply appreciate the dedication and loyalty of our software development teams, acknowledging the extensive time and effort required to achieve the level of quality and expertise necessary for producing our world-class software. Our customer service team is equally remarkable, delivering unparalleled human technical support with impressive patience and talent. We view our employees’ ongoing commitment to our company as a testament to their loyalty and passion for their profession, and we strive to reciprocate by providing them with the support and opportunities they deserve.

We understand that it takes time to master our trade, understand our customer base, and create exceptional solutions that address their needs. This is why it’s crucial for us to invest in and empower our employees continuously. Looking at our employees’ length of service, it’s clear that we are doing something right. Excluding our our founding directors, 25% of our employees have been with us for nearly five years, 40% for 5-8 years, and 16% for 12-18 years. So when the time came to introduce a new staff benefit, we aimed to create something truly meaningful and valuable that would recognise the unwavering commitment and hard work of our fealty and enthusiastic staff, who make invaluable contributions every single day.

Initially, we explored a range of different benefits, some of which had merit but lacked broad appeal. Vouchers were deemed for us to be too cumbersome to use, and family-focused benefits were not relevant for everyone. As a result, we reached out to industry leaders such as Rona Cook at Ooni, Phil Adams at I Know Some People, and Tyler Mortimer at Emplomind for advice and guidance on creating impactful benefits that went beyond a mere tick-box exercise. The result was the birth of freetobe.

freetobe is an employee-centred benefit that prioritises employee choice, providing a lump sum that can be used for anything they are interested in or passionate about but may not be able to afford on a monthly salary basis. Since its introduction, our staff members have used this benefit for a variety of things, ranging from purchasing woodworking tools to setting up a home gym, acquiring home brewing equipment to experiencing a Michelin-starred restaurant, enjoying a spa day to attending Murrayfield matches, annual subscriptions to sports clubs or journals, and so much more. It’s safe to say that our staff members have embraced freetobe with all the energy we had hoped and expected, and we have enjoyed seeing them indulge in their passions and interests.Investing in our outstanding freetobook staff is a responsible and engaged approach that yields benefits beyond just retention, including increased staff motivation and enhanced customer service. Our customer team, comprised of real people who utilise our phenomenal software developed by our exceptional team of software developers, consistently receives praise and recognition from our customers as the best in the industry.

For the past two decades, freetobook has expanded from a small company , equipped with only a single computer and a fax machine, to a substantial travel tech company that assists accommodation businesses worldwide. Despite our growth, we have always preserved our small company mentality, and it is this devotion that has propelled us to become a prosperous employer.