THOUSANDS of Tesco staff in the region yesterday learnt that they are to benefit from a £98m bonus payout after the company’s record-breaking profits haul for the last year.

The company employs about 20,000 workers in the North-East and all staff, from checkout operators and van drivers to senior managers, who have worked for Tesco for at least a year are to receive free shares in Britain’s biggest private sector employer.

The maximum individual award, based on 3.6 per cent of salary, is £3,000, with staff to receive an average of £500 worth. The Shares in Success windfall marks an eight per cent rise on the previous year and comes after Tesco’s annual profits recently broke through the £3bn barrier, setting a new record for British retailers.

More than 207,000 staff are expected to benefit.

Non-executive chairman, David Reid, said: “As always, our success is all down to the hard work and skill of the whole of the Tesco team.

“They deliver for customers every day and have made Tesco a British success story at home and abroad, an achievement of which we should all be especially proud given the current economic climate. I am delighted that once again all staff are sharing in this success.”

To be eligible for Shares In Success staff must have been employed by Tesco for at least a year at the end of February this year.

The shares are held in trust for five years and then available to sell tax free.

Yesterday 66,000 workers became eligible to sell £37m worth of shares they were given under the scheme in 2004. There was also pay cheer for the top executives who picked up £21m in pay and bonuses in the last financial year, according to Tesco’s annual report, also released yesterday.

Chief executive Sir Terry Leahy was paid £5.1m in salary and bonuses, although the payout was down slightly on the £5.5m seen the previous year, with pay packages reduced for many senior staff as Tesco reportedly missed internal targets despite the record profits.

Tesco said yesterday’s share bonus was on top of £238m awarded to staff last year through incentive bonuses and share schemes.

In the past 12 months the company created about 10,000 jobs in the UK including 3,000 for the long-term unemployed.

The company also donated £57m to good causes in the UK and internationally.

As part of its corporate responsibility measures it had also halved the energy use per square foot in its UK stores.