CEO of Next shares 4 million pound bonus with 20,000 employees

Lord Simon Wolfson, chief executive officer of retailer Next aims to share his 4 million pounds bonus,

part of his "share matching plan bonus," among staff for the second year running.

The bonus is to be split among 20,000 full-time and part-time employees who worked at Next between April 2011 and April 2014 during its incentive scheme. It is equal to a 1.5 percent pay rise on a pro rata basis, or an average of 200 pounds for a full-time store employee and will be given in staff's May pay.

On Wednesday, Lord Wolfson wrote a message to Next's 20,00 staff explaining that due to the "exceptional gains," which include a 65 percent increase in profits per share and the retailer's share price trebling, indicated that his bonus has become more valuable, than he "could possibly have hoped for."

"In these circumstances, instead of accepting the award, I have asked the board if they will share it amongst all those who have worked for the company during the [the previous] three-year period," he wrote."I hope you will accept this bonus as a personal gesture of thanks and appreciation for all your hard work and dedication to Next through testing economic times."

Lord Wolfson also announced the retailer's plans to increase the rate of pay for store sales assistants and stock room assistants by 37 pence per hour, effective from June 1.

"This pay rise should be seen alongside all the other measures we are taking to improve customer service and we hope that, over coming months, you will help to take Next's service from good to outstanding," wrote the CEO in his message to staff.

Last year Lord Wolfson shared his 2.4 million pound bonus with Next's staff, whilst receiving a 4.6 million pay package due to 1 million pound annual bonus. He currently holds 1.5 million shares in Next, which are predicted to be worth 100 million pounds. "I am in the very fortunate position to have significantly benefited as a shareholder," he added in his message to staff.

The announcement comes out just before Wolfson's annual pay and bonus receiving being stated in Next's Annual Report for 2013 on April 11.