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The Entertainer raises £750,000 for charity through Payroll Giving

05/06/2018

The Entertainer is proud to announce it has raised £750,000 for charity through Payroll Giving, an initiative launched by the company in 2011 to make it easier for employees to make donations through their pay.

Over half of employees at The Entertainer are now giving regularly to 180 different charities in the UK from their pay. Since inception, the company matches every donation pound for pound, with employees new to the scheme also enjoying an additional £25 for their chosen charity when they first sign up. With charities losing around £600m in unclaimable tax each year, Payroll Giving provides 100% tax effective donations for all givers.

As a result of the money raised, The Entertainer will be one of the first companies from this year’s National Payroll Giving Quality Mark Awards to receive the new Diamond award for their ongoing success in engaging employees with the initiative. This is in addition to having previously been awarded “Best Sustained Scheme” in the Medium Sized Employer category and the unexpected “Best Overall Campaign” at the 2017 National Payroll Giving Excellence Awards for its achievement and dedication to tax-free giving.

Gary Grant, Founder and Chairman of The Entertainer comments: “Giving back is very important to The Entertainer which is why each year we donate 10% of our profits to a number of children’s charities and organisations. We also encourage all of our employees to support a charity of their choice in whatever way they can, and we’re absolutely thrilled to announce we’ve raised £750,000 together.”


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For further press information and to book interview time with Gary Grant, please contact the press office on: pr@theentertainer.com

About the Entertainer

The Entertainer was founded in 1981 in Amersham, Buckinghamshire by husband and wife team, Gary and Catherine Grant, who instilled the driving force and mission; to be the best-loved toyshop – one child, one community at a time. Today, it continues to be a privately-owned company and is renowned for being the largest independent toy retailer in the UK with a total of 145 stores. As well as a strong High Street presence, The Entertainer has a successful website platform (TheToyShop.com) which offers a 30-minute click and collect service and has 22 million visits annually and growing. The Entertainer is also recognised for its charitable giving. Each year it tithes 10% of its net annual profit to charity, in addition employees are encouraged to donate directly through Payroll Giving. The Entertainer is also an active member of the Pennies scheme, the digital upgrade of the traditional charity box, which enables customers to donate a few pence to charity at the point of sale when paying by card. On average, this generates £5,000 of customer donations to Children’s hospitals each week. The Entertainer currently employs over 1200 staff across the stores and a further 160 in the Head Office in Amersham, Buckinghamshire.