More than 22,000 colleagues at Tesco are set to share a £134 million payout after the supermarket’s Save As You Earn share scheme reached maturity.
Most of the colleagues benefiting from the scheme work in stores and distribution centres across the UK.
Tesco share scheme delivers major payout
A total of 22,348 Tesco employees will receive profits from the company’s SAYE share savings scheme, which allows colleagues to buy shares at a fixed discounted price after saving monthly over several years.
Participants in the scheme were able to buy Tesco shares at £1.82 under the three-year option or £1.98 under the five-year option.
With Tesco shares trading at £4.79 on the morning of 2 March, many colleagues will now see significant gains if they choose to sell their shares.
Employees who saved the maximum £500 per month could make personal profits of £29,374 from the three-year scheme and £42,576 from the five-year option.
Colleagues saving the average amount will see smaller but still notable returns. Those saving £91 per month in the three-year plan are expected to make around £5,346, while those saving £94 per month in the five-year scheme could make around £8,004.
Share price growth behind windfall
The payout reflects strong performance in the Tesco share price in recent years.
The retailer’s shares have increased by more than 26% over the past year, helping drive the total £134 million windfall for colleagues.
This is significantly higher than previous payouts under the programme. Tesco employees shared around £30 million from SAYE schemes in 2024 and £66 million in 2020.
The SAYE programme remains one of the largest employee share schemes in the UK retail sector.
The initiative is part of a broader package of benefits available to roughly 300,000 Tesco colleagues in the UK, including family-related policies, a virtual GP service and employee wellbeing support programmes.
For the supermarket sector, programmes such as these are increasingly used to retain staff and share company performance with frontline employees working in stores and logistics networks.
Editors’ Note: Information in this article is based on an official announcement published by Tesco on 3 March 2026.
